Written by Chee-Hann Wu.
Image credit: Photo of the ‘Xiehou・Boy’s Love’ Taiwan Commercial BL Comics Exhibition 2023 at Taiwan Comic Base by the author.
It is fair to say that Taiwanese comics have entered a new golden age in recent years. The Ministry of Culture’s newly introduced spatial and structural infrastructures are shaping a new landscape for Taiwanese comics. For example, the Taiwan Comic Base, which opened in 2019, is located in a newly remodelled old building in Taipei and features a bookstore, exhibition spaces, performance spaces, lecture spaces, and workshop spaces. The National Taiwan Museum of Comics, which has been hosting temporary and rotating exhibitions since 2023, is currently in preparation and has found its home in the old martial hall of Taichung Prison. Additionally, we have witnessed the flourishing creativity nurtured by awards and online platforms. The Golden Comic Award welcomes its 16th anniversary this year, alongside the inauguration of the Youth Comic Award. Diverse platforms such as WEBTOON, CCC Webcomics, CxC, and Mojoin further serve as hubs that facilitate distribution, circulation, and access, nurturing a community of creativity.
Although Taiwanese comics are less prevalent than their Japanese and Korean counterparts, they have certainly gained more attention in recent years due to their diverse genres. Sci-fi, horror, mystery, history, romance, and young adult are just a few of the genres nominated for the Golden Comic Award this year. This article draws attention to a particular genre of comics: Taiwanese boys’ love (BL). This genre has gained momentum not just in Taiwan, but also globally. Its unique styles, storytelling, and narratives are a direct reflection of Taiwanese society.
All of the comics discussed in this article were created and first published after Taiwan legalised same-sex marriage in 2019. Unlike many Japanese BL comics, especially earlier ones, which depict protagonists navigating contemporary Japanese society as gay men and resisting and confronting heteronormative social norms and homophobia, many Taiwanese BL comics focus on the ordinariness of relationships in a world where characters do not need to fight or fear for societal acceptance and where sexualities are no longer at stake.
Day Off is a BL comic by Dailygreens that began serialisation on CCC Webcomics in 2020 and has recently concluded its second season. Readers enjoy the comic for its soothing style, colours, and storytelling. The description reads as follows:
The gentle supervisor (sometimes a very picky eater) and the cute subordinate (a weird Gemini) are a couple now. Only their colleague Lily and you know about this!
Their daily office romance, sometimes sweet, sometimes slightly bitter, will keep you company in the busy office life.
We can all use a little therapeutic sweetness in the daily hustle and bustle.
At first glance, this seems like just another heartwarming, cosy office romance, chronicling the couple’s daily joys and occasional misunderstandings. It is indeed! Furthermore, that is precisely why its rights have been sold in over ten languages as of 2025.
Photo taken by the author.
As mentioned above, scholar I-Yun Lee writes that in early Japanese boys’ love (BL) works, one or both of the male protagonists were unaware of their homosexuality. Consequently, storylines featuring confusion and anxiety about falling for someone of the same sex, as well as conflicts over sexual identity, frequently appeared. However, such themes have largely faded since the 2000s. In Taiwanese BL comics, especially in more recent works like Day Off, same-sex love is portrayed as something that has always been accepted. For example, in Day Off, the supervisor thought the subordinate was cute when he first saw his headshot on the employee profile. In My Online-Celebrity Boyfriend, the protagonist, who is a YouTuber, is also comfortable expressing his interest in the other protagonist directly. The fact that the protagonists do not struggle with their sexuality or feel the need to explain to the rest, as well as the daily activities they engage in that deepen their connection, offers comfort to readers.
This also resonates with an expression that many Taiwanese people like to use: xiaoquexing, or “small yet definite happiness.” In contemporary society, people are no longer seeking grand romances involving overcoming challenges and conquering adversity. Instead, we prefer to enjoy insignificant moments of happiness found in everyday life. As Day Off describes, “the therapeutic sweetness in the daily hustle and bustle,” comic artist Aancen shares that the inspiration and setting of their work, Follow & Stand By, was “a simple, everyday love story” that leaves readers with a sense of warmth and comfort.
Follow & Stand is part of the multiple-author comic series Rainbow Splendour Land. All of the works in this series were created based on the premise of Taiwan’s legalisation of same-sex marriage. The series uses BL as a lens to explore each character’s views on love and marriage, addressing life challenges across different age groups, distinct occupations, and social roles in the broader landscape of Taiwan. In addition to their everyday nature, Taiwanese BL comics in this series and others often emphasise love between ordinary people (as opposed to early heterosexual romances or BL stories that always feature CEOs or extraordinarily attractive protagonists).
Characters in Follow & Stand By both work in theatre; The Unknown Scenery portrays the relationship of a long-term couple, one a journalist and the other a firefighter nearing retirement, revealing their vulnerability after an accident; Married Again shares the reunion of two college friends after a decade after they were both divorced; Love Confession at 35 tells the story of a 35-year-old project manager and a software developer who was bullied at his previous workplace, and Mileage features a young taxi driver and a company owner in his forties. These diverse Taiwanese BL stories depict various types of relationships and intimacies, which might not always be any sort of spectacular or heart-wrenching love stories, but can still be filled with struggles and deeply felt emotions arising from everyday life and genuine interactions.
Indeed, these are solely one type of Taiwanese BL comics. As the industry flourishes, more genres are emerging, such as fantasy, mystery, horror, and comedy. However, BL comics about everyday life have gained more attention in recent years due to their lived-in quality. During the pandemic, when human touch and intimacy were absent, and everyday life felt surreal, people craved simple, everyday love stories filled with heartwarming moments and occasional ups and downs. This sentiment has remained even after the pandemic. The stories are relatable to readers, whether or not they are BL fans. As Dailygreens said, “I want to show how people can accompany and support one another.”
Taiwanese BL comics continue to thrive and reach more readers. President Lai Ching-te was spotted buying a physical copy of Day Off at the 2025 Taipei International Book Exhibition, which sent BL lovers into a frenzy. He then posted on his social media, “I’ve heard that Day Off is suitable for readers of all ages and works well as an introduction to BL comics. I bought the first volume today to give it a try!” This further demonstrates that Taiwanese BL comics are shaped by and reflect a society where love doesn’t always have to be complicated.
Chee-Hann Wu is an assistant professor faculty fellow in Theatre Studies at New York University. She received her Ph.D. in Drama and Theatre from the University of California, Irvine. Chee-Hann is drawn to the performance of, by, and with nonhumans, including but not limited to objects, puppets, ecology, and technology. Chee-Hann’s work has appeared in Puppetry International, Asian Theatre Journal, International Journal of Performance Arts and Digital Media, and other places. Her most recent research explores video games, VR, and artificial intelligence through the lens of theatre and performance.
This article was published as part of a special issue on ‘Taiwan Drawn: Comics and Graphic Novels.’
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