Funimation is a well-known American entertainment company popular for its dubbing and distribution of East Asian media, specifically Japanese anime. It contains over 600 anime belonging to different genres and Storylines. One of these genres is BL or Shounen ai, which translates to “boys love.” Anime of this genre specifically features Romantic relationships between Men. The genre has been around for a long time, but it has been gaining more attention these days. So, here we shall look into some of the best BL anime that are available to watch on Funimation.
Funimation contains various BL anime ranging from the Latest BLs like Sasaki and Miyano to Old classics like Sekaiichi Hatsukoi. In the passing years, The Shounen ai genre has gained a huge fandom. There has been a constant demand for better LGBTQ+ representation in all forms of media, which includes anime. However, there are still a limited number of Yaoi/shounen-ai anime out there. And so, to find quality content on a quality platform, we have listed the best BL anime to watch on Funimation.
1. Gravitation
One of the main leads, Shuichi, is a big fan of The Pop idol Ryuichi Sakuma and his band Nittle Grasper. Shuichi is quite dedicated to following in the footsteps of his idol. Along with his best friend Hiro, Shuichi made a band and named it Bad Luck (I’m sure they spent a whole minute to come up with that name). Soon they even get signed to one of the major recording labels. Bad luck as it were, the studio’s deadlines were closing in, and Shuichi still hasn’t completed the lyrics for any of the songs. He needed new inspiration to write a proper song. So Hiro suggests he find a girlfriend for good inspiration.
One night Shuichi was taking a walk through the park. The latest lyrics of Shuichi’s song dropped at the feet of a good-looking man. This handsome stranger was none other than Eiri Yuki, an extremely famous novelist. He is known for being a critic who completely bashes young artists. After seeing the lyrics, he says that Shuichi and his band have zero talent to be in the entertainment world. Shuichi gets annoyed to the point where he manages to write his song to prove Yuki wrong.
2. Dakaichi
The plot revolves around showbiz. Takato Saijou has a huge Rivalry with Junta Azumaya. Takato has been titled “Sexiest Man of the Year” continuously for five years. He has been a well-accomplished actor with 20 years of experience and is gifted with amazing looks and a great personality. He loves his position as the Sexiest Man of the year and considers the title as a Mark that defines his success in the film industry.
However, this Monopolistic reign ends when a new actor Junta Azumaya gets the title of the “Sexiest Man of the year.” Even though Takato has worked for 20 years, Junta only debuted three years ago and managed to snatch Takato’s place. They both happen to work in the same drama series, but Junta gets the role of main lead instead of Takato. In a sense, he feels like Junta surpassed him yet again. With his high spirits and bright smile, Junta ends up making Takato even more annoyed about the whole situation.
However, one day, Junta accidentally catches Takato in a Drunken state. Takato was bottling up all his anger for the past few weeks but seeing Junta in his vulnerable state, Takato couldn’t hold it in. He confronted Junta and used harsh words. This served as an opportunity for Junta. He decides to blackmail Takato by filming him dissing Junta. If the video were to leak, it would endanger his public image. Seeing himself in such a weird situation, Takato asks what price he needs to pay.
3. Uragiri wa Boku no Namae Wo Shitteiru
Yuki Sakuraki Grew up as an orphan. He’s been living a hard life, so he starts questioning his reason to live. He has an ability that allows him to see a person’s painful memory just by touching them. Yuki received several anonymous letters saying that he should die. Yuki couldn’t shake it off and started feeling miserable about his abilities. Little did he know that he was being watched by people who wanted to hurt him as well as the people who wanted to protect him.
One night, A handsome man with a peculiar look saves Yuki’s life. He couldn’t recall his name. He was a man Yuki had never met before, even though he looked familiar. As soon as this stranger arrives, Yuki starts regaining the memory of his past. With these memories, he understood his purpose to live again. He discovered himself all while he made friends, got betrayed, and slowly solved the puzzle of his past.
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4. Sarazanmai
The story features Kappa (a creature from Japanese folklore). The noble Kappa Kingdom is defeated by the Otter Empire, and the prince Kemppi loses most of his power. He ends up becoming helpless against the unseen Kapa-zombies. These zombies were the creations of the Otters and were slowly starting a plague. Now the only choice Kemppi has is to rely on three boys, Kazuki, Enta Jinnai, who is Kazuki’s childhood friend, and Tooi Kuji, a typical school delinquent.
The boys themselves can become Kappa if they remove a mythical organ called shirikodama. By taking the form of Kappa, they can fight against the Kapa-zombies. To defeat the zombies, the three of them must be connected through their minds, bodies, and secrets (*insert a Lenny face here*).
5. Junjou Romantica
Junjou Romantica is one of the classical BLs that features multiple stories of men falling in love.
Story 1
The main story is based on a High school student named Misaki Takahashi. He returns home only to see his brother being fondled by another man. Misaki gets Shocked by witnessing such a scene. Later on, Misaki finds out that this man is Akihiko Usami. Akihiko is a well-known novelist and his big brother’s best friend.
With the holy spirit of coincidences, Akihiko ends up becoming a Private tutor of Misaki. Soon Misaki comes across a BL novel written by Akihiko. After taking a look at the content, Misaki becomes uncertain about Akihiko as he starts suspecting that he might have feelings for his big brother. One event leads to another, and the two main leads end up falling in love. Just a reminder, though, This is a work of fiction, and real-life sucks.
Story 2
The second story consists of a university teacher, Hiroki Kamijou, who teaches classical literature. He is Akihiko’s friend and facing failure in the field of romance. Soon Ritsu finds himself on the edge of a mental breakdown, but that’s when he meets a student Nowaki Kusama. He requested he help with an upcoming exam. Even though Hiroki denied Nowaki’s request several times, eventually, he ended up lending him a hand. They both slowly get closer, and some secrets are revealed.
Story 3
The third story (and the best one among the three) revolves around a rich teenager and a teacher who happens to be his sister’s ex-husband. Shinobu is the son of the director of the College where Miyagi works as a professor. He was married to Shinobu’s sister for a while but ended up getting divorced. After the divorce, Shinobu visits Miyagi and confesses that he has been in love with him ever since he saved Shinobu from a bunch of thugs. This event took place before he got engaged with Shinobu’s sister. However, Miyagi disagrees to go with his preposition and tries to scare him off. As the story continues, he starts feeling affection towards him which turns into Love. Junjou Romantica collectively narrates the story of these three couples.
6. Yuri on Ice
Yuri Katsuki is an Ice skater who faced a crushing defeat during the Grand Prix Finale. He considered himself a failure and started to lose hope of becoming a successful skater. He also starts gaining weight. This makes his comeback even tougher.
Soon though, Yuri found himself in the spotlight when a video of his went viral. In this video, he performs a Number that is originally performed by the famous five-time world champion, Victor Nikiforov. Due to the video, Victor himself gets in contact with Yuri by directly appearing at Yuri’s house, offering to be his mentor. Yuri has always been a huge fan of Victor, so there was no way he could have refused this proposal. He decides to make it back to the stage. However, the competition is tough as Plisetsky, an exceptional star from Russia, is determined to defeat Yuri Katsuki.
7. Stranger by the shore
The story features an openly gay novelist Shun Hashimoto, living in Okinawa. He was disowned by his parents after he came out as a gay man. On the other hand, Mio Chibana is an Orphan. He is a high school student with a reserved personality. He often spends most of his time by the sea. On a fateful day, the two meet on the beach. Shun is immediately captivated by Mio. The days go by, and they both start to grow closer. But sadly, due to some matter, Mio had to leave for the mainland.
They were reunited after three years as Mio returns to Okinawa and decides to finally confess to Shun. But in the three years that passed, something changed in Shun’s life. Now he seemed reluctant to the thought of them both being together.
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8. Sekaiichi Hatsukoi
Sekaiichi Hatsukoi is written by the same mangaka as Junjou Romantica. This anime also contains a series of gay couples. All the stories are based on “First love.” Ritsu Onodera is a prideful literary editor. He’s been working in his father’s publishing company which made his co-workers jealous of him. Giving up on this life, he decides to quit the job and find a new one. He transfers to Marukawa Publishing.
However, instead of working in their literary department, Ritsu ends up working as the newbie manga editor for the Emerald editing department. This team often operates under extremely tight schedules with short deadlines. This is where Ritsu encounters the editor-in-chief Takano Masamune. It turns out that Ritsu used to be in love with Takano in school. But their relationship ended on a troublesome note. Ritsu had his heartbroken and decided to never fall in love again. Due to the twisted fate of the main leads, they get reunited after years and years of separation. This time around, Takano is determined to make Ritsu say that he loves him.
9. Heaven Official’s Blessing
Xie Lian used to be a beloved Martial God and was known as the Crown prince of Xian. But now he is a Scrap collecting godly figure without any followers. The story starts with him appearing on the heavenly Realm for the third time, with an apologetic smile. Xie Lian starts his first mission but ends up alone in a night with an eerie atmosphere. He finds a man dressed in all red who offers him help and guides him through the forest. However, once he was done guiding him, he disappeared into thin air.
Later Xie Lian learns that the man in red is Hua Cheng. He is the Ghost King feared by Gods as well as demons. Given his background, it didn’t make sense that he helped Xie Lian. Since he is Heavenly, while he is lost in his thoughts, he meets San Lang. He is a knowledgeable young man who knows about everything, including the Ghost King, as well as the forgotten Crown Prince. Xie Lian and San Lang decide to go on a journey to unravel the truth of the past. While the anime doesn’t depict intense BL scenes or relationships, the main novel from which it was adapted is filled with Xie Lian and Hua Cheng being husbands.
10. Sasaki And Miyano
Sasaki and Miyano is a new anime currently ongoing on Funimation. Miyano is a Fudanshi (Men who like Boys’ live content), who finds himself in a troublesome situation. Sasaki (his classmate) saves Miyano from a group of bullies. Sasaki is a typical delinquent who refuses to leave Miyano alone. This turns into an annoying situation for Miyano. He keeps it a secret that he likes BL manga. He made all efforts to make sure that no one ever knew about this secret. But due to a slip of the tongue, he ended up revealing the truth.
Out of curiosity, Sasaki borrows a BL manga to read. To Miyano’s surprise, Sasaki enjoyed the manga. The fact that Miyano finds another fellow Fudanshi is like a dream come true for him. Now he could freely talk and discuss his favorite manga with another person. Now that they started talking more often, their relationship gets deeper, resulting in them generating feelings for each other.
Also Read: What is a BL Anime? Is It The Same As Yaoi?
