This survey was born from a personal curiosity. In March 2023 I went to Seattle for ECCC and attended a panel on LGBTQ+ in comics. The panel had several queer artists from all sorts of different backgrounds. They talked about their work, their peers' work, and the works that inspired them. As a Japanese Studies scholar and someone deeply invested in the queer community at large, I found their talk very interesting!

I have always been a big fan of BL (Boys' Love) from Japan (since 2004) and had been into Korean BL for a while, but recently had gotten into Chinese BL (Danmei) and had heard of a few US/English based BLs too (like the Simon Snow Trilogy from Rainbow Rowell). Though I'd never seen any, I had also heard Thai BL was suuuuuper big... So it really got my brain churning and I started wondering a few things:

Survey Queries

1. What sort of people like BL?

   • Is it still mostly women?

   • Straight women? Or is there a big queer community presence too?

   • How old is the audience? I got into it when I was in high school, but am into my 30s now. Are there a lot of older BL fans?

2. How do people enjoy BL and why?

   • Comics/Webtoons? Anime/Cartoons? Live Action TV and/or Movies? Or Novels??

   • Since there are several prominent countries now producing BL, which is the best?

     • And when looking at them individually, what makes one country's better than the other?

     • Which one makes the best novels? Comics? Et cetera?

   • What are the audience's favorites? (Basically, I want to consume new stuff, lmfao.)

3. And lastly, I wanted to know whether people shared their love of BL openly at all, or kept it to themselves.

   • I also wanted to know if people created their own / engaged with the content in some well as well!

   • If most people are adults, this probably won't matter, but how are they with Not Safe For Work content or various Kink content?

Issues with the Survey

I am only human and this was my first major survey so I did have some learning pains. For the posterity of the survey, it's important to acknowledge those flaws, which will affect the data, and learn from them (especially if I'm going to do the survey again).

1. Not making it clear "Romantic" equated to both Hetero- and Homoromantic. And grouping it with Biromantic to boot. I tried to do too much in this one answer.

2. Grouping Taiwan and China. This caused a LOT of confusion and issues for respondents and after looking into it and talking to people, I can see why! I was trying to group the various countries by culture, which, for the most part, Mainland China and Taiwan/Hong Kong do share... but due to censorship laws on the mainland, even their BL culture is very different or at least fluctuates a LOT! One respondent was so pissed about it, they even wrote in every "Other..." answer "Taiwan is not China." This was certainly not a political statement on my end at all, just ignorance of the deeper issues with the medium. I sincerely apologize to everyone frustrated by the mix-up.

3. For the engaging questions (cosplaying/drawing/writing) there is no way to differentiate between a "No" from someone that DOESN'T cosplay/draw/write from someone that DOES, but doesn't do BL stuff. This would've been fixed with a fourth option that said "I don't cosplay/draw/write" so all the No responses would've been from those that do only. Definitely good to know for next time.

4. And the last issue was the timeframe of the survey. I posted the survey online on March 10th and officially closed it June 11th. Three months is an unusually long time for a survey to stay open! Most surveys are only open for a few weeks, maaaaaaaybe a month at most! As I was advertising a lot at conventions, I had long gaps of no responses and then a few hundred. I don't believe this effected my results too much, but I did lose some momentum so I believe it would've been better to plan on a summer release next time when I could potentially advertise more consistently both online and in person.

Survey Results

The survey had a total of 641 respondents. As previously mentioned, some of the responses were invalid due to being inappropriate. In some cases, respondents entered something in "Other" that could've been applied to an offered response and thus counted towards that instead. Some of the numbers may be a little off as some "Other" responses also counted towards two or more offered responses instead. (All of the Above, for example.) Lastly, some questions were not mandatory and thus some of the results will not calculate correctly either. The full data can be downloaded here.

Gender

• 62% of respondents identify as Female

• 18% identify as Male

• 17% consider themselves Genderfluid, or Non-Binary

• 3% preferred not to say

Sexuality

• 24% identify as Heterosexual

• 16% identify as Homosexual

• 34% identify as Bi or Pansexual

• 6% identify as Demisexual

• 17% identify as Asexual

• 3% identify as something else (questioning, unsure, queer, omni)

Romantic Orientation

• 62% identify as Hetero/Homo/Biromantic

• 16% identify as Aromantic

• 9% identify as Pan/Polyromantic

• 10% identify as Grey/Demiromantic

• 3% identify as something else (simply queer, it's complicated, unsure)

Age Range

• 8% identify as Under 18

• 27% identify as 18-22

• 32% identify as 23-29

• 21% identify as 30-39

• 11% identify as 40 and Up

Preferred BL Medium

• 20% prefer Novels

• 35% prefer Comics

• 7% prefer Animation

• 34% prefer Live Action

• 4% prefer other mediums (Drama CDs, Games, Depends, All)

Preferred BL Source

• 40% prefer Japanese BL

• 12% prefer Korean BL

• 19% prefer Chinese BL

• 23% prefer Thai BL

• 3% prefer English BL

• 4% prefer another country's BL (Germany, Philippines, All, a mixture, Depends)

Preferred Source for BL Novels

• 42% don't read BL Novels

• 5% prefer Japanese BL Novels

• 3% prefer Korean BL Novels

• 37% prefer Chinese BL Novels

• 3% prefer Thai BL Novels

• 9% prefer English BL Novels

• 1% prefer another country's BL Novels (or answered All, None, Depends, etc.)

Preferred Source for BL Comics

• 21% don't read BL Comics

• 42% prefer Japanese BL Comics

• 31% prefer Korean BL Comics

• 3% prefer Chinese BL Comics

• 0% prefer Thai BL Comics

• 2% prefer English BL Comics

• 1% prefer another country's BL Comics (Germany, Can't decide, All, None)

Preferred Source for BL Animation

• 34% don't watch Animated BL

• 53% prefer Japanese Animated BL

• 3% prefer Korean Animated BL

• 8% prefer Chinese Animated BL

• 0% prefer Thai Animated BL

• 0% prefer English Animated BL

• 2% prefer another country's Animated BL (Any, None, All)

Preferred Source for Live Action BL

• 21% don't watch Live Action BL

• 14% prefer Japanese Live Action BL

• 11% prefer Korean Live Action BL

• 11% prefer Chinese Live Action BL

• 41% prefer Thai Live Action BL

• 2% prefer English Live Action BL

• 1% prefer another country's Live Action BL (Philippines, Vietnam, a mix, All, None)

Japanese BL Preferences

• 2% don't consume it at all or enough

• 20% like it for the overall story and/or plots

• 19% like it for the depiction of characters

• 20% like it for the art and/or cinematography

• 15% like it for the way romance is expressed and shown

• 11% like it for the people and/or voices casted

• 13% like it for aspects related to that culture (language, settings, conventions, etc)

Korean BL Preferences

• 5% don't consume it at all or enough

• 19% like it for the overall story and/or plots

• 18% like it for the depiction of characters

• 20% like it for the art and/or cinematography

• 15% like it for the way romance is expressed and shown

• 10% like it for the people and/or voices casted

• 13% like it for aspects related to that culture (language, settings, conventions, etc)

Chinese BL Preferences

• 11% don't consume it at all or enough

• 20% like it for the overall story and/or plots

• 18% like it for the depiction of characters

• 14% like it for the art and/or cinematography

• 15% like it for the way romance is expressed and shown

• 9% like it for the people and/or voices casted

• 13% like it for aspects related to that culture (language, settings, conventions, etc)

Thai BL Preferences

• 16% don't consume it at all or enough

• 16% like it for the overall story and/or plots

• 18% like it for the depiction of characters

• 9% like it for the art and/or cinematography

• 17% like it for the way romance is expressed and shown

• 12% like it for the people and/or voices casted

• 12% like it for aspects related to that culture (language, settings, conventions, etc)

English BL Preferences

• 20% don't consume it at all or enough

• 20% like it for the overall story and/or plots

• 19% like it for the depiction of characters

• 11% like it for the art and/or cinematography

• 15% like it for the way romance is expressed and shown

• 8% like it for the people and/or voices casted

• 7% like it for aspects related to that culture (language, settings, conventions, etc)

Country Preference by Aspects

• Thai BL has both the highest points for not having been watch, but still somehow beat English BL in several categories.

  • It is also the most well-rounded in all aspects.

  • From the other section, Thai BL is most popular source for Live Action content.

• Japanese BL still ranks far and above all other countries', but perhaps this is due to being the longest running as a genre.

  • Japan is also the most popular source for Comic and Animated content.

• Chinese BL was rated as the best Novel medium, while Korean and English BL didn't rank high enough to take #1, but Korea did make the #2 source for Comics.

Recommended Consummation

It is important to note here some trouble I had in identifying some of the media being recommended. Because it wasn't specified, I had to assume "Absolute Love" was Zetsuai which may be incorrect. Additionally, in the case of Live Action content (both movies & TV) often, the name of the source material the work is being adapted from will not be 100% the same. In these cases, I tried to include the title it was most well known by in English, and then it's original work's title in the native language with, of course, the author. Additional author credits are usually co-writers, scriptwriters, illustrators, directors, publishers or other IP holders. I only have a grasp of the Japanese language so I feel confident I've done my due-diligence there, but the same cannot be said for the others. I left the IP holder blank I the rare case I could not find one. Another change I made was moving one adaptation to the original source. For example, someone put the Thai LA adaptation of Love Stage!! on their list, but as this is a Japanese source, I moved this to count there. Lastly, especially for the English/Western and "Other" categories, I must admit I did not do a very good job of classifying what qualified for "English" and "Other." I did a lot of moving around between these two as ultimately what I settled on was: English is a story told only in English, even if it's by a non-Westerner, and Other is for stories originally told in languages other than English, even if it's available or adapted into an English version. At this point I should also address the fact that I converted any SKAM entries to count for Norway, even though it had a few votes specifically for the German, Belgian, French, and English versions. My advice when looking at this list is two-fold: 1) be sure to research the work listed further and find the medium that suits you most to start. If you enjoyed that version, try another one! 2) Check out the full list (and overall data set) linked above! Feel free to reach out if you have questions. I apologize in advance for any changes I made that upset you; I understand where you're coming from, but this was only to get a better data picture. I am interested in hearing your thoughts.

Japanese

Overall 1,178 individual and valid suggestions were submitted. This came to 305 unique series.

• 1: My Beautiful Man / Utsukushii Kare by Nagira Yuu (novel, comic, live action, & drama CD)

  • Mentioned 82 times (~7% of the total entries)

• 2: Cherry Magic! Thirty Years of Virginity Can Make You a Wizard?! / Sanjuu-sai made Dotei Da to Mahotsukai ni Nareru rashii by Toyota Yuu (comic, drama CD, & live action)

  • Mentioned 77 times (~6.5% of the total entries)

• 3: Old-Fashioned Cupcake by Sagan Sagan (comic, drama CD, & live action)

  • Mentioned 66 times (~6% of the total entries)

• 4: Given by Kizu Natsuki (comic, drama CD, animation, live action, & stage play)

  • Mentioned 64 times (~5% of the total entries)

• 5: My Love Mix-Up! / Kieta Hatsukoi by Hinekure Wataru & Aruko (comic, live action, & novel)

  • Mentioned 51 times (~4% of the total entries)

Other works in the top 10 were: Sasaki & Miyano by Harusono Shou (~3%), Yuri!!! on ICE by Yamamoto Sayo & Kubo Mitsurō (~3%), The Pornographer Series by Marukido Maki (~2%), Eternal Yesterday / Eien no Kinou by Eda Yuuri (~2%), & Classmates / Doukyusei by Nakamura Asumiko (~2%).

Korean

Overall 907 individual and valid suggestions were submitted. This came to 208 unique series.

• 1: Semantic Error by J. Soori & Angy Kim (novel, comic, live action, & animation)

  • Mentioned 167 times (~18% of the total entries)

• 2: To My Star / Naui Byeol-ege by Park Young (live action)

  • Mentioned 62 times (~7% of the total entries)

• 3: Cherry Blossoms After Winter / Gyeoul Jina Beojkkoch by Bam U (comic, & live action)

  • Mentioned 40 times (~4% of the total entries)

• 4: Who Can Define Popularity? / Blueming by Tak Bon (comic, & live action)

  • Mentioned 36 times (~4% of the total entries)

• 5: Light on Me / Behind the Desks / Saebichnamgo Hagsaenghoe Gomun-ibnida by Day7 & EVY (game, comic, & live action)

  • Mentioned 28 times (~3% of the total entries)

Other works in the top 10 were: Roommates of Poongduck 304 / Pungdeogbilla 304houi Sajeong by Teddy Hwang (~2.5%), Where Your Eyes Linger / Neoeui Siseon-i Meomuneun Gos-e by Hwang Da Seul (~2.5%), Color Rush by Se Sang tied for 8th with Sign / Sign Language by Ker (~2%), BJ Alex by Mingwa (~2%), & Choco Milk Shake / Salang-eun Daengnyangdaengnyang by Ahn Ji Hee (~1.5%).

Chinese

Overall 1,016 individual and valid suggestions were submitted. This came to 212 unique series.

• 1: The Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation / The Untamed / Módào Zǔshī by MXTX & Luo Di Cheng Qiu (novel, comic, animation, live action, drama CD, & game)

  • Mentioned 151 times (~15% of the total entries)

• 2: Heaven Official's Blessing / Tiān Guān Cì Fú by MXTX & STARember (novel, comic, animation, drama CD, & live action)

  • Mentioned 88 times (~9% of the total entries)

• 3: Faraway Wanderers / Word of Honor / Tiānyá Kè by Priest (novel, live action, & drama CD)

  • Mentioned 60 times (~6% of the total entries)

• 4: Scum Villain's Self-Saving System / Rén Zhā Fǎnpài Zìjiù Xìtǒng by MXTX (novel, comic, & animation)

  • Mentioned 47 times (~5% of the total entries)

• 5: We Best Love by Lin Pei Yu (live action, novel)

  • Mentioned 41 times (~4% of the total entries)

Other works in the top 10 were: HIStory3: Trapped by Lin Pei Yu & Shao Hui Ting (~4%), Are You Addicted? / Ni Ya Shangyin Le? by Chai Jidan (~3.5%), The Husky and His White Cat Shizun / Èrhā Hé Tā De Bái Māo Shīzūn by Meatbun Doesn't Eat Meat & Villa (~2%), 19 Days / Shíjiǔ Tiān by Old Xian of Mosspaca Studio (~2%), & About Youth / Mòmò by Huang Si Mi tied for 10th with Thousand Autumns / Qian Qiu by Meng Xi Shi (~2%).

Thai

Overall 861 individual and valid suggestions were submitted. This came to 82 unique series.

• 1: Bad Buddy / Hlang Man by Afterday and -West- (novel, & live action)

  • Mentioned 94 times (~11% of the total entries)

• 2: KinnPorsche by Patchayamon Theewasujareon & Sitthichai Panya aka daemi (novel, & live action)

  • Mentioned 89 times (~10% of the total entries)

• 3: Not Me / NOT ME Dek Thoi Rak Jing by ++saisioo++ (novel, & live action)

  • Mentioned 62 times (~7% of the total entries)

• 4: My School President / Faen Phom Pen Prathan Nakrian by Pruesapha  (novel, & live action)

  • Mentioned 56 times (~6.5% of the total entries)

• 5: I Told Sunset About You / Bplae Rak Chan Duay Jai Ter Series by Boss Naruebet Kuno & Meen Tossaphon Riantong (live action)

  • Mentioned 52 times (~6% of the total entries)

Other works in the top 10 were: Moonlight Chicken / Phrajan Man Kai by Aof Noppharnach Chaiyahwimhon (~5%), Love in the Air / Banyakat Rak the Series by MAME (~4%), Until We Meet Again / Dai Daeng by LazySheep (~4%), Manner of Death / Phri Dti Gaan Thee Dtaai by Sammon (~3%), & A Tale of Thousand Stars / Nithan Phan Dao by Bacteria (~3%).

English

Overall 419 individual and valid suggestions were submitted. This came to 170 unique series.

• 1: Heartstopper by Alice Oseman (UK) (comic, & live action)

  • Mentioned 123 times (~29% of the total entries)

• 2: Queer as Folk by Russell T Davies (UK) (live action)

  • Mentioned 14 times (~3% of the total entries)

• 3: Love, Victor by Isaac Aptaker & Elizabeth Berger (live action)

  • Mentioned 12 times (~3% of the total entries)

• 4: The Captive Prince Series by C.S. Pacat (Australian) (novel)

  • Mentioned 11 times (~2.5% of the total entries)

• 5: Call Me by Your Name by André Aciman (novel, & live action)

  • Mentioned 8 times (~2% of the total entries)

Other works in the top 10 were: The Simon Snow Series by Rainbow Rowell (~1.5%), and 5 other series tied for 7th: Boyfriends. by refrainbow (Indonesian), Hannibal by Bryan Fuller, Our Flag Means Death by David Jenkins, Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Rebecca Albertalli, & The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller (~1.5%). From here, there are many ties so the rest of a "Top 10" is not really possible. I apologize, but please check the full file.

Other Languages

Overall 204 individual and valid suggestions were submitted. This came to 50 unique series.

• 1: Young Royals by Lisa Ambjörn, Lars Beckung & Camilla Holter (Swedish) (live action)

  • Mentioned 55 times (~27% of the total entries)

• 2: SKAM by Julie Andem (Norwegian) (live action)

  • Mentioned 45 times (~22% of the total entries)

• 3: Gameboys by Ash M. Malanum (Filipino) (live action) tied with Like in the Movies / Gaya Sa Pelikula by Jaime "JP" Habac Jr. (Filipino) (live action)

  • Mentioned 19 times (~9% of the total entries)

• 4: The Way He Looks / Hoje Eu Quero Voltar Sozinho by Daniel Ribeiro (Brazilian) (live action)

  • Mentioned 7 times (~3% of the total entries)

• 5: Elite by Carlos Montero & Darío Madrona (Spanish) (live action) tied with Smiley by Guillem Clua (Spanish) (live action)

  • Mentioned 4 times (~2% of the total entries)

Other works in the top 10 were: Merlí by Héctor Lozano & Eduard Cortés (Spanish) (~1.5%), and 6 other series tied for 7th: Eyewitness by Jarl Emsell Larsen (Norwegian), ‎Forbidden Love / Amor Proibido by Maciel Brum (Brazilian), Hello Stranger by Patrick Valencia (Filipino), Mr. Cinderella by Ho Si Hau (Vietnamese), Romil and Jugal by Ekta Kapoor (Indian) & Tien Bromance by Duoc Si Tien (Vietnamese) (~1%). From here, there are many ties so the rest of a "Top 10" is not really possible. I apologize, but please check the full file.

Engaging with Other BL Fans

With Friends:

• 40% say Yes, they talk about BL with their friends

• 26% say No, they don't talk about BL with their friends

• 34% say they only talk about BL with their friends Sometimes

With Strangers:

• 19% say Yes, they talk about BL with strangers

• 48% say No, they don't talk about BL with strangers

• 33% say they only talk about BL with strangers Sometimes

In Person:

• 28% say Yes, they talk about BL with people in person

• 50% say No, they don't talk about BL with people in person

• 22% say they only talk about BL with people in person Sometimes

Online:

• 76% say Yes, they talk about BL with people online

• 6% say No, they don't talk about BL with people online

• 18% say they only talk about BL with people online Sometimes

Cosplay:

• 10% say Yes, they cosplay from BL series

• 82% say No, they don't cosplay from BL series

• 8% say they only cosplay from BL series Sometimes

Art:

• 22% say Yes, they make art from BL series

• 62% say No, they don't make art from BL series

• 16% say they only make art from BL series Sometimes

Write:

• 36% say Yes, they write content from BL series

• 48% say No, they don't write content from BL series

• 16% say they only write content from BL series Sometimes

Related Content & Tags

NSFW:

• 90% say Yes, they are comfortable with NSFW content in BL

• 2% say No, they aren't comfortable with NSFW content in BL

• 8% say they are only comfortable with NSFW content in BL Sometimes

Kink:

• 77% say Yes, they are comfortable with Kinky content in BL

• 4% say No, they aren't comfortable with Kinky content in BL

• 19% say they are only comfortable with Kinky content in BL Sometimes

Additional/Specific Content Ranking:

1. Alternative Universe (430)

2. Verse/Switching (406)

3. Canon Divergence (312)

4. ABO/Omegaverse (300)

5. Neurodiversity (258)

6. Troubling or Problematic Content; tagged with Dead Dove warning (237)

7. Polyamory (233)

8. Gender Play (164)

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