You may have noticed that the title of this post says manga review instead of manga first impression. That’s because BL Fans Love My Brother is actually complete in one volume so I read the whole thing! Yay.
Ok so on a whim a few months ago I decided to just buy a bunch of volume 1 manga that I didn’t know anything about and figured if I found something I liked I would continue it. This has backfired horribly. Not only did I like most of the series I started but I absolutely loved receiving a box in the mail full of manga to discover and going through them one at the time in the evenings. It was like a different adventure every day!
And then, I did it again… This is not a cheap hobby by any means! I should just read digital versions. I really really should. And to kind of slightly justify it in my mind, I want to at least share my experience with you guys! And how could I resist a weird title like BL Fans Love My Brother?
Why I Picked up BL Fans Love My Brother
Because of the title. I also like the pretty blonde anime boy on the cover. Real deep reasons on this one!
Official Summary
Kirika Amano is just an unassuming college freshman, but her shut-in big brother, Teruo, is about to turn her life upside down… Even though he’s barely left their family home in four years, Teruo has a big secret: he’s been living a double life online as the boys love artist sensation Amaterasu!
With his popularity online growing more and more, Teruo begs Kirika to pose as Amaterasu in the real world, throwing her right into the deep end of doujinshi conventions, hot and sweaty fan comics, and adoring fans who want to worship Teruo—and now Kirika—as a god!
As Kirika begins to crack under the pressure, she relies on Teruo’s knowledge to guide her through this new world of conventions, followers, and her own budding love for her big brother’s OTP, just as Teruo needs his little sister to help him
My First Impression
Huh, this is a little like BL Metamorphosis and that’s not a bad thing. Also, I haven’t seen a normal Brother Sister story in a long time!
What I liked
I just mentioned it but Kikira and Teruo are a great pair of siblings. And they are allowed to actually be siblings. As in thee is no romantic feelings in any way and one doesn’t act like a parent or anything. An actual brother and sister duo with their ups and downs and I found their relationship really endearing. That’s good because it’s the main point of the story.
Both characters are in fact fairly charming on their own. I was happy to follow along with their adventures and cheer for their successes and as Kikira slowly got to know her brother better and started taking an interest in his life, I was genuinely touched.
It’s light and comedic, it doesn’t take itself very seriously. This is neither a drawback nor a plus for me but the BL aspect of the story is completely off-page. Teruo is a big fan and he talks about his ship and BL and Yaoi tropes a lot but we don’t see anything and there is no actual BL at all in the story.
I really liked the character designs. The backgrounds are very sparse though.
Any drawbacks?
I would call this BL Metamorphisis’ cute shallow cousin. Everything is more surface level. The characters get minimal development. I mean we don’t even really find out why Teruo became a shut-in and it’s a very important part of the story. Everything is cute but not too deep.
Ultimately, even though there is no BL, I have a feeling that people that aren’t familiar with at least some of the tropes and community will miss a lot of the jokes.
BL Fans Love My Brother is probably a manga I will forget about. Like I said it’s not very deep and not likely to leave a huge impression on people. But at the same time, I enjoyed pretty much every page. The characters were sweet and their goofy little antics were pleasant. I thought the pictures were pretty even if it’s a style I’ve seen a lot and it got a few honest laughs out of me.
It’s probably not a manga that’s for everyone but if you like BL and want a BL adjacent story or just a nice wholesome brother and sister story, I think BL Fans Love My Brother is worth your time.
