Shoui has long prepared himself for the day when Asari must go away. But does their extraordinary bond go beyond mere tradition? Can a sweet, sacred promise, and shared feelings conjure a true miracle? Ze binds men and dolls in a heartrending dance of loss...and love!

"Elegant Moriya is supposed to return to 'hakushi' after his master dies, but he demands another shot at servitude! Reckless Ryuusei lives apart from the family and refuses to use kotodama ... but he's inexplicably drawn in by Moriya's seductive power. Can a flawless kami and a twisted human find a way to come together?"--Page 4 of cover

Now that Given has an offer to record their debut album, each of the band’s members must decide whether to get serious about trying to go pro. Though Ritsuka doesn’t have a single doubt in his mind, Mafuyu isn’t ready to commit. Frustrated by Mafuyu’s indecisiveness, Ritsuka shifts his focus to playing in the band of his formal rival Hiragi, but Hiragi is having his own troubles with bandmate Shizusumi. -- VIZ Media

Youji, whom Ryuusei loves like a brother, is seriously injured in an accident. He can't stop blaming himself, thinking, had he walked him all the way to his house, this may not have happened. Refusing to use Kotodama, Kami-sama can't help him either, but there is one last option left...

"While searching for Ran-Mao, Mey-Rin's successfully uncovered the covert operation in Baron Heathfield's manor--but an unforeseen hurdle stands in the way of a job well done. A tantalizing offer of employment has Mey-Rin reflecting on her own blood-soaked history that binds her to the former Earl Phantomhive. Will she remain the master's devoted servant, or will she abandon her post for good?"--

Boys Love Manga and Beyond looks at a range of literary, artistic and other cultural products that celebrate the beauty of adolescent boys and young men. In Japan, depiction of the “beautiful boy” has long been a romantic and sexualized trope for both sexes and commands a high degree of cultural visibility today across a range of genres from pop music to animation. In recent decades, “Boys Love” (or simply BL) has emerged as a mainstream genre in manga, anime, and games for girls and young women. This genre was first developed in Japan in the early 1970s by a group of female artists who went on to establish themselves as major figures in Japan's manga industry. By the late 1970s many amateur women fans were getting involved in the BL phenomenon by creating and self-publishing homoerotic parodies of established male manga characters and popular media figures. The popularity of these fan-made products, sold and circulated at huge conventions, has led to an increase in the number of commercial titles available. Today, a wide range of products produced both by professionals and amateurs are brought together under the general rubric of “boys love,” and are rapidly gaining an audience throughout Asia and globally. This collection provides the first comprehensive overview in English of the BL phenomenon in Japan, its history and various subgenres and introduces translations of some key Japanese scholarship not otherwise available. Some chapters detail the historical and cultural contexts that helped BL emerge as a significant part of girls' culture in Japan. Others offer important case studies of BL production, consumption, and circulation and explain why BL has become a controversial topic in contemporary Japan.