Yaoi, or boys’ love (BL) anime, have come a long way from being niche genres to mainstream favorites, but some incredible shows still don’t get the recognition they deserve. Following my previous post on underrated yuri anime, here’s a look at 10 underrated yaoi series that deserve more attention.
1. Mignon
This South Korean original yaoi anime from ABJ Company premiered on Vimeo in August 2023, and most people missed it because it got pulled down temporarily due to content concerns before being restored.
The show follows Mignon, a lovable mechanic who moonlights as a boxer in an illegal underground arena, completely devoted to Oh Young-One, the arena’s doctor, who’s hiding his own dark secrets.
What makes the anime criminally underrated is the mature storytelling that doesn’t hold back on the gritty crime elements while developing a genuinely touching romance. Director Bboong Bbang Kkyu, known for works like Hyperventilation and Unbelievable Space Love, has been creating groundbreaking yaoi works since 2017, and this one combines atmospheric animation with a noir-ish vibe that feels nothing like typical fluffy yaoi.
2. Tadaima, Okaeri
Tadaima, Okaeri became the first ever omegaverse yaoi anime to air on television when it premiered in April 2024, yet somehow it still flew under most people’s radar. Studio Deen adapted Ichi Ichikawa’s manga about a married couple, Masaki and Hiromu, raising their baby Hikari in a cozy domestic setting.
Unlike typical yaoi, the focus is on the established relationship dynamics and family life rather than the chase and confession drama that most yaoi relies on. The 12-episode series concluded in June 2024 on Crunchyroll. While most associate the genre with something more explicit or dramatic, this anime delivers a heartwarming slice of life instead of the usual toxic relationship portrayals.
3. Cherry Magic! Thirty Years of Virginity Can Make You a Wizard?!
Studio Satelight produced this 2024 adaptation of Yuu Toyota’s manga, and despite having a hit live-action drama before it, the anime version got way less buzz than it deserved. The premise is wild: 30-year-old virgin Adachi suddenly gains the ability to read minds through touch and discovers his handsome coworker Kurosawa has been crushing on him this whole time.
Surprisingly, Cherry Magic! avoids typical yaoi melodrama by focusing on workplace romance between two awkward adults who genuinely respect each other. The series aired from January to March 2024, bringing humor and heart to the mind-reading gimmick without making it creepy or invasive.
4. Hirano and Kagiura
Another Studio Deen yaoi gem, Hirano and Kagiura is a short film that screened alongside the Sasaki and Miyano movie in February 2023, which is exactly why it barely got noticed since most people only paid attention to the main feature. Kagiura is a first-year student who moves into the dorms with what seems like a bad-boy upperclassman Hirano, only to discover his roommate is actually a caring mother hen type.
The spinoff from Sho Harusono’s manga focuses on unrequited feelings handled with such gentle patience that it hurts in the best way. After half a year of living together, Kagiura has fallen completely for Hirano, who looks after him with protective sweetness.
5. Hybrid Child
Based on the manga by Shungiku Nakamura, the creator of Junjou Romantica and Sekaichi Hatsukoi, this four-episode OVA series explores three relationships between Hybrid Children, androids that grow depending on the love given to them, and their human owners.
What destroys viewers emotionally is the melancholic awareness that these dolls have limited lifespans despite their capacity for deep feelings and growth. Unlike Nakamura’s other works, this features a more reflective tone blending emotional storytelling with soft science fiction elements. The anthology format lets each couple’s tragedy unfold differently, building to gut-wrenching conclusions that’ll have you ugly crying while questioning the nature of consciousness and devotion.
6. Tasogare Out Focus
A summer 2024 yaoi series, Tasogare Out Focus also got buried under the flood of other seasonal releases. Film club member Mao Tsuchiya and his roommate Hisashi Otomo make three promises: Mao won’t tell anyone Hisashi is gay and has a boyfriend, Hisashi won’t make any moves on Mao, and they’ll respect each other’s personal space.
The meta brilliance here is watching Mao film a yaoi story for his club while accidentally developing feelings for his off-limits roommate. As the principal photographer composing every intimate scene between the male leads, Mao ends up directing all these romantic moments while struggling with his own emerging attraction.
7. Beryl and Sapphire
Beryl and Sapphire is a Chinese donghua that started airing in 2018 and follows protagonists with hilariously random names, the mild-mannered Beryl (Green) and the easily embarrassed Sapphire (Blue), through various alternate universes and scenarios. Each episode is a sketch comedy that takes place in a completely new universe where the dynamic between the duo takes on different forms, sometimes as childhood friends, other times as lovers, and occasionally as rivals.
Based on artist Ocarina’s popular manhua, each episode shows different kinds of relationships between the characters, so viewers get to see all sorts of dynamics without sticking to just one story. Sadly, the show is massively underrated in English-speaking yaoi communities because most fans don’t venture into Chinese yaoi animation, maybe assuming language barriers or different storytelling styles won’t appeal to them.
8. Embracing Love: A Cicada in Winter
Historical yaoi hits different when it’s done right, and this three-episode OVA proves exactly why period pieces can elevate romance into genuine tragedy. Studio Venet adapted Youka Nitta’s spinoff from the main Embracing Love series, creating one of the most emotionally devastating yaoi anime that barely anyone talks about anymore.
Set during the late Tokugawa period, Touma Kusaka secretly learns English, hoping for positive foreign relations, while political tensions between the Bakufu and Choshu clan explode around him. His forbidden relationship with Akizuki Keiichirou becomes as fragile as the cicada shells they find together, doomed by the country’s violent transformation.
9. Quiet Please!
Quiet Please’s premise sounds like a sitcom setup: a guy moves into his first apartment dreaming of freedom, immediately gets driven insane by his loud neighbor, and accidentally punches him when they finally meet face to face. QMENG’s 2025 series runs just five episodes at six minutes each, but don’t let that fool you into thinking it’s forgettable. Yi-hyuk tries everything to stop the noise, from childish pranks to literally begging on his knees, and watching his dignity crumble is hilarious.
The escalating war between neighbors somehow turns into attraction, because of course it does, but the Korean production nails the comedic timing so well that the enemies-to-lovers development feels earned rather than forced. Most people scroll past anything under ten minutes per episode, assuming there’s no substance, which is exactly why this gem with more personality than entire 12-episode seasons gets ignored completely.
10. Twittering Birds Never Fly
Kou Yoneda’s manga about yakuza boss Yashiro and his bodyguard Doumeki finally got the anime treatment it deserved, but tragically, Studio GRIZZLY dissolved in 2025, meaning the planned trilogy may never be completed. The first film, The Clouds Gather, premiered in Japan in February 2020, delivering one of the most psychologically complex relationships in yaoi with brutal honesty about trauma, sexuality, and self-destruction.
Yashiro is a masochistic high-ranking yakuza in the hyper-masculine criminal underworld who becomes increasingly drawn to his newly-assigned bodyguard. Director Kaori Makita, who worked on Yuri!! On Ice and Banana Fish doesn’t sanitize anything, showing how damaged people connect in messy, uncomfortable ways. Despite critical acclaim, the incomplete trilogy status means investing emotionally might feel pointless when closure might never come. That said, it’s worth keeping tabs on whether another studio picks up the torch to complete this masterpiece.
