Taiwanese boys’ love comics in the 2010s: development and significance

Under the dominance of imported Japanese works over the past few decades, the first Taiwanese commercial Boys’ Love (BL) comic did not appear until the 2010s. This paper analyses the development of Taiwanese commercial BL comics during this time by tracing their origin back to girls’ comics and fandom from the 1980s to the 2000s, followed by case studies of commercial BL comics published between January 2012 and June 2019. The reading of these works focuses on localising characters, plots, and aesthetics to distinguish them from Japanese commercial BL manga. The findings of this paper suggest that, compared with Japanese BL manga, mainstream Taiwanese commercial BL comics in the 2010s likely addressed a much younger audience (mostly teenage girls and young women in their early 20s), featuring romance-driven plots that almost always adhere to patterns within Taiwanese girls’ comics. Yet despite the seemingly girly style and plot, some of the works already differed from their Japanese counterparts, especially by highlighting the authors’ and the readers’ awareness of gender equality and LGBTQ rights. Notably, a small number of Taiwanese commercial BL comics appeared to move beyond the mainstream of girls’ comics, gradually evolving into a wider range of subject matters and art styles. It is argued that these works inspired later works in the 2020s and contributed to the shaping of Taiwanese BL comics’ unique features.