Best BL Animes and Yaoi Animes to Watch 2024

Ariel Sarullo

LGBT anime offers a pretty broad range of genres to choose from. From the classic “boys’ love” anime, to yuri anime (anime with a lesbian couple), to anime with queer characters of various identities. No matter what, you’ve got a whole lot of options when it comes to LGBT anime, and you can either pick and choose which genre you want to watch, or watch all of them to get a feeling for each.

We saw six of the most popular LGBT anime from 2024 and rated, reviewed, and gave a synopsis for each of them below. If you’re interested in watching some gay anime, read further to find out which one you might like the best!

Twilight Out of Focus

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photo from Twilight Out of Focus official website

Synopsis

Twilight Out of Focus is a boys’ love anime that follows the romantic lives of the members of a film club at an all-boys high school in Japan. Over the ten-episode series, the story dives into three different love stories between three different gay couples, all who are part of the same film club. Each relationship has its own unique dynamic, and its own twists and turns as to how the two become a couple in the first place.

The other subject the story focuses on is the annual film competition at their school, in which each class year, 1st, 2nd, and 3rd year students, make their own short film and compete with the other years to see which film is the best. Many of the romances in this anime develop during the long hours working on one film or another. 

Also, keep in mind that while this anime doesn’t show actual nudity, it’s definitely not safe for work!

Our Rating

10/10

Our Review

Senpai Wa Otokonoko

Senpai Wa Otokonoko poster
photo from Senpai Wa Otokonoko's official website

Synopsis

Senpai Wa Otokonoko (roughly translating to “My upper-classmate is a boy”) is a queer slice of life anime about Hanaoka Makoto, a young man interested in crossdressing who attends high school as a girl, wearing a wig and girl’s uniform. Not knowing that he is a boy, Aoi Saki admits her feelings for him. When Makoto reveals to her that he’s a boy who just likes girls’ clothing, she is unfazed and is still interested in him romantically. Makoto’s male friend, Taiga Ryuji, knows that he’s a boy and also has feelings for him. 

Senpai Wa Otokonoko is a cute, safe for work, queer love triangle anime that has a lot of twists and turns along the way, including the characters dealing with various family issues. It doesn’t have much action or mystery, but it is a good pick if you like an anime about characters’ day to day lives.

Our Rating

7/10

Our Review

Tadaima, Okaeri

tadaima poster
photom from Tadaima's official website

Synopsis

Masaki and Hiromu are a gay male couple who move into a new neighborhood with their son, Hikari, who is almost two years old. They have a happy life there for the most part, but are faced with some discrimination: not because they’re gay, but because they’re of different social castes.

This anime is set in “The Omegaverse”, and so, social classes are split between Alphas, Betas, and Omegas. Since Hiromu is an Alpha and Masaki is an Omega, they’re not supposed to be in a relationship with each other. This also makes it funny, however, since even though they’re both men, Alphas can get Omegas pregnant, so Hikari is actually the couple’s biological child.

If you’re looking for a gay slice of life anime with a slightly fantastical premise, then this might be the right anime for you!

Our Rating

9/10

Our Review

Whisper Me a Love Song

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photo from Whisper Me A Love Song's official website

Synopsis

On her first day of high school, Kino Himari watches an all-girls band play at the school’s opening ceremony. There, she sees Asanagi Yori perform, who is subbing in for the usual lead singer and guitarist. After the concert, She confronts Yori, telling her that she’s in love with her. However, the two girls seem to have different ideas of what love means.

Whisper Me a Love Song is a cute slice of life anime with lots of lesbian characters, not only the main two girls. It also centers around the aforementioned girl band and includes many musical themes.

Our Rating

8/10

Our Review

Cherry Magic! Thirty Years of Virginity Can Make You a Wizard?!

cherry magic poster
photo from Cherry Magic's official website

Synopsis

Cherry Magic! definitely has a unique premise. Adachi Kiyoshi, a 30-year-old virgin, develops psychic powers on his 30th birthday presumably due to his virginity, allowing him to read other people’s thoughts only by touching them. He accidentally bumps into Kurosawa Yuichi, the handsome guy at his office who’s popular with the ladies, and discovers that Yuichi is actually deeply in love with him.

This obviously takes him by surprise, and sets the stage for the rest of the anime, involving the two men as the main couple, and a cast of funny and entertaining side characters. This comedic, slightly supernatural, gay anime is perfect for those who want to watch something unique, but which still generally maintains the slice of life format.

Our Rating

9/10

Our Review

Gushing Over Magical Girls

gushing over magical girls poster
photo from official website

Synopsis

Gushing Over Magical Girls is a funny, fantastical lesbian anime with a little more action and intrigue than some of the slice of life anime on our list. It’s a story about Hiiragi Utena, an incredibly normal girl, who is a staunch fangirl of the Tres Magia, a group of three magical girls to watch over her city.

One day, Utena runs into Venalita, a spirit who turns her into a villain named Magia Baiser, which forces her to fight against the Tres Magia. Chaos ensues when Utena realizes she must fight the three magical girls who she most admires.

Our Rating

9/10

Our Review

Conclusion

These are the six LGBT anime of 2024 that we recommend the most! We hope that you found an anime on this list that looks interesting. From here, you can read a more in-depth article about the anime of your choosing on JGG’s website, and then go watch it!

Ariel Sarullo is originally from Connecticut, U.S.A. She’s been writing all her life, having thought up and created various projects like a mystery novel in the works, multiple short stories, blog posts about Japan and informative web articles. Her passion for Japan also started at a young age, with an interest in living here long term. She has traveled to and lived in areas of Japan such as, Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto, Kagawa, Kanagawa, Hiroshima and Niigata. Having followed various pursuits since coming to Japan including teaching English, studying Japanese full time, and editing articles for an e-commerce website, she is excited to give writing for JGG a go!

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