Best BL Anime Like Sasaki And Miyano

Sasaki and Miyano is not just one of the best boys love anime of all time, but it is also one of the best romance anime of all time. Once upon a time, yaoi was synonymous with unhealthy relationships defined by manipulation, dysfunctional power dynamics, and forceful personalities. While these shows have their place, BL has come a long way since then, and Sasaki and Miyano represents the modern and wholesome direction the theme nowadays prefers.

Although representative of the genre on the whole, Sasaki and Miyano is still a singular experience that doesn't have all that many direct peers. Consequently, it can be difficult to know which BL anime to watch if you enjoyed this series, especially if you are relatively new to these types of shows. This article will, hopefully, provide guidance.

Updated April 11, 2026 by Mark Sammut: The Spring 2026 anime season is underway, and we have finally received a new worthwhile boys love anime! Seriously, it has been a while. Go For It, Nakamura! has been added as a recommendation.

1 Go For It, Nakamura!

A Funny BL Anime That Isn't About Romance

2025 barely produced any boys love anime, and the few we got were nothing to write home about (although Babanbabanban Vampire is a decent comedy). The current year has been a little bit better, with both Winter and Spring dipping into the genre. Winter 2026's Isekai Office Worker is fine, but the main relationship feels like a throwback to older yaoi romances, where one side is way too controlling. I wouldn't specifically recommend it to Sasaki and Miyano fans, but anyone who just wants to try out every new BL anime should give it a go. If nothing else, the blend of isekai and boys love is unique.

Fortunately, Spring 2026's Go For It, Nakamura! might just pick up the slack for the last 15 months. Along with being the best BL anime since 2024's Twilight Out of Focus, the series takes a slightly different approach to the theme. Nakamura has a crush on his classmate, Hirose, and he wants to talk to him. That's the driving force of the first few episodes, as the protagonist just wants to become friends with a person they like. Maybe it leads to something more than a friendship, or maybe it doesn't; so far, that doesn't really matter, especially since the anime is way more of a comedy than a romance. Each episode sees Nakamura try to approach Hirose in a few ways, only for it to backfire. Despite things not going as planned, he does actually start to build a rapport with Hirose, and a BL manga even ends up being the thing that really gets them to talk.

Don't go in expecting a romance, and you might love Go For It, Nakamura!

2 Doukyusei: Classmates

BL Anime At Its Best

Predating Sasaki and Miyano and Given by a few years, Doukyusei: Classmates was a breath of fresh air at the time of its release. While possible to find in manga, wholesome boys love anime that follow two students as they gradually realize their feelings for each other were near impossible to find before 2016. That's not even meant as a criticism, as classics like Junjo Romantica left their mark on pop culture, but the genre just was not interested in telling these types of stories. If Given stirred BL in a new direction, then Doukyusei: Classmates started that movement.

Similar to Sasaki and Miyano, this one-hour movie follows two students, Hikaru and Rihito, as they bond through a shared interest. Rather than yaoi stories, they connect through music, with Hikaru helping Rihito to prepare for an upcoming performance. Stripped of anxiety, conflict, or even tension, Doukyusei: Classmates is a straightforward love story defined by warmth and joy.

3 Welcome Home

A Progressive Romance About Family

As Welcome Home has only just started airing as part of the Spring 2024 anime season, it is still too early to warrant more than a cautious recommendation. That said, the show is very good, and Ichi Ichikawa's manga is generally considered great.

In a season containing sequels like KonoSuba, Demon Slayer, My Hero Academia, and Mushoku Tensei along with exciting new adaptations such as Kaiju No. 8, Whisper Me a Love Song, and Spice and Wolf, Welcome Home was always destined to be among Spring 2024's least-discussed series. Romance is an acquired taste, and throwing boys' love into the equation sends everything into the most niche corner imaginable. Add the fact that Welcome Home is also part of the Omegaverse, a project consisting of dozens upon dozens of stories set within a unique universe that shakes up gender roles, and the result is one of the most niche series on air at the moment.

Omegaverse's main hook is the introduction of gender statuses that move away from traditional identities.

• Omegas are people (men or women) who can give birth.
• Alphas are people (men or women) who can get both genders pregnant.

Or, at least, that might be someone's impression if they never try Studio Deen's anime. If they do, they will find a touching and nuanced story about family, gender norms, and generational trauma. Masaki, an Omega, and Hiromu, an Alpha, are a married couple who are raising their very young children. For the most part, their days are filled with love, affection, hide and seek, and wholesomeness; however, they have to occasionally deal with society's prejudice against Omegas. Masaki is all too familiar with discrimination, and he is determined to avoid passing on those fears to his kids.

Although touching upon heavy themes, Welcome Home is primarily a cute slice of life anime that just follows the Fujiyoshi family as they lead their best lives. The series balances drama, comedy, and romance pretty well, delivering a whole that is more than the sum of its parts.

4 Yuri!!! On Ice

Most Famous BL Anime

When one thinks of sports anime, what often comes to mind are titles like Prince of Tennis, All Out, Ace of Diamonds, and Kuroko's Basketball. Baseball, football, and basketball might arise in the imagination. Male competitive ice skating probably doesn't.

That changes with Yuri!!! On Ice. This series does what all good sports anime should, which is to tell a story so compelling that it draws viewers in even if they aren't fans of the sport. Yuri!!! on Ice is a brilliant BL anime as well, with a wide and engaging cast of characters, sharp dialogue, and solid twists. Whether one watches for triple Axels or hand-holding, this series exceeds expectations.

5 Given

Challenging But Rewarding

Music touches the spirit uniquely, perhaps one reason that music anime is so beloved. Given is both a BL anime and music anime, following the story of high school students Mafuyu Sato and Ritsuka Uenoyama. The latter helps the former tune and play his guitar, unaware that it belonged to Mafuyu's first love. Mafuyu joins Ritsuka's band soon after. Given is emotionally tough, unafraid of throwing viewers into the deep end of their feelings. Yet probing heavy themes is always done in the name of enriching the romantic plot between the two, and Given flourishes exactly because it's willing to use the dark to illuminate the light.

Predating Sasaki and Miyano by a few years, Given was the biggest contributor to the genre's renaissance period during the early 2020s. Boys love can arguably be divided into pre- and post-Given, a transition that saw BL move away from age differences and romanticized unhealthy relationships toward mature and grounded storytelling. That's not to say that Given has no moments that threaten to cross the line, but they are taken seriously and criticized accordingly.

The series is great, and the same can be said for the three movies.

6 Semantic Error

Brief Flashes Of Boys Love

OK, this one is a bit of a special case. Semantic Error is a South Korean manhwa that lasted for roughly three years, producing almost 100 chapters in the process. Ending in 2023, it is a great boys love series that is, for the most part, an easy recommendation for Sasaki and Miyano fans. If someone prefers to watch rather than read the story, they should consider checking out the 2022 live-action adaptation, which is available as either an 8-episode series or a movie, both of which can be watched on Viki. At a minimum, one of those versions needs to be watched to get anything approaching a satisfying experience.

Now, there is (technically) a South Korean animated version, but it is intended to complement rather than replace the source material. Consisting of four short episodes, the series covers slice of life moments from the manhwa, all of which revolve around the main duo's romance. They provide snapshots of different points in their relationship, and these scenes are pretty cute and do a good job of highlighting the pair's dynamic. Still, the anime does not introduce the characters, their social standings, the conflict that brings them together, or their goals. Consequently, it cannot be recommended as a standalone project, but it works well as a fun little companion piece to (mainly) the manhwa.

7 4 Week Lovers

High School Lovers Reunite In College

Sticking to South Korean animated shows for a bit longer, 4 Week Lovers is another boys love short anime based on a manhwa. However, unlike Semantic Error, this 2023 release features 10 episodes and, for the most part, tries to work as a standalone story rather than just a clip show for the source material. The manhwa is still probably a better bet for newcomers since the animated series does not cover the full story, but people who stick to the latter should be able to follow the main couple's storyline relatively easily.

4 Week Lovers revolves around Song Jaehee and Jeong Dojun, two guys who used to date in high school and end up sharing a room in college. Dojun ghosted his partner, ending their previous relationship on a sour note. While Jaehee pretends not to hold grudges, he still has feelings for his ex and is willing to act upon them. When Jaehee breaks his arm while protecting Dojun, the latter agrees to a 4-week relationship while the former recovers.

4 Week Lovers is kind of a weird one. The main characters have decent chemistry, and the sequences set during high school are fantastic. However, the college-era stuff can be off-putting due to their relationship incorporating an element of manipulation. The show does not take itself that seriously, and most of Jaehee's antics have a playful tone, but things get a bit uncomfortable at times.

8 Gakuen Handsome

BL Parody

Yaoi anime are already rare, and that goes triple for parodies of the genre. Gakuen Handsome has hideous art, detestable love interests, and the blandest protagonist imaginable; more importantly, all these things are intentional. Consisting of short three-minute episodes, the hilarious anime pokes fun at some of the more polarizing aspects of boys' love stories, particularly older shows like Junjo Romantica and Gravitation​​​​​​.

Due to its nature, Gakuen Handsome should not be someone's next BL anime after Sasaki and Miyano since the latter does not contain many of the tropes mocked by the 2016 series. Although enjoyable enough without context, Gakuen Handsome improves significantly if a viewer knows their yaoi.

9 Heaven Official's Blessing

Romance Is One Part Of An Epic Whole

A Chinese donghua anime, Heaven Official's Blessing takes the idea of divine love seriously. So seriously, in fact, its protagonist is literally divine: Xie Lian was a once-mighty god. Now reduced to a fraction of his former glory, Xie meets Hua Cheng in heaven, a divine entity even more frightfully powerful than himself.

The romance between Xie and Hua is elegant. It unfolds gradually, and because it plays out against a backdrop of mystery, religion, and myth, it never feels the tremendous pressure to carry the entire story as romance does in many BL anime. Instead, the love between the gods feels natural, which makes it a whole different kind of divine.

10 No.6

Fun Setting, Likable Protagonists

No matter the time or place, whether deep in Earth's past, the far-flung reaches of outer space, or a medieval fantasy world where dragons and sorcerers rule the day, love more or less always looks like love. No.6 is a near-future sci-fi story about two young men in a dystopian world.

The series succeeds in giving viewers three-dimensional characters in a three-dimensional setting. It isn't perfect by any means, but the richness of its animation and artwork lends an extra layer of greatness on top of an already good manga. It might not have the humor of Sasaki and Miyano, but it lacks little else.