What is the first BL ever?

If you’re into BL manhwa or webtoons like Define the Relationship, you might have found yourself wondering: what is the very first BL story ever created? With so many titles flooding platforms today, it’s hard to imagine a time when BL wasn’t a global phenomenon. But everything has an origin, and BL is no exception. Let’s take a little trip through history together, in a casual way, like friends talking about our favorite stories.

Where BL Actually Started

BL, short for “Boys’ Love,” began in Japan before spreading to Korea and becoming what we now call manhwa or webtoons. The very first works weren’t even called BL at the time. Back in the 1970s, female manga artists in Japan started experimenting with stories that explored romantic relationships between male characters.

One of the earliest recognized BL manga is Kaze to Ki no Uta (The Song of Wind and Trees) by Keiko Takemiya. Serialized in 1976, it was groundbreaking because it tackled forbidden love between boys in a European boarding school setting. It wasn’t just about romance — it also touched on themes like identity, trauma, and social norms, which made it feel bold and ahead of its time.

The Role of Shoujo Manga in BL’s Birth

Interestingly, BL didn’t just appear out of nowhere. It was born from shoujo manga, which was already focusing on emotions, relationships, and character-driven plots. Female readers and creators wanted to push boundaries, and male-male romance offered a way to explore love in a fresh, unconventional context.

That’s why the earliest BL works looked different from what we know today. They weren’t the lighthearted rom-coms we binge on Webtoon. Instead, they were emotional, sometimes tragic, and filled with symbolism.

So, was Kaze to Ki no Uta the First BL Ever?

Most fans and scholars agree that Kaze to Ki no Uta is the “first official BL” because of how openly it depicted a same-sex romance. But even before that, there were manga with hints of male relationships or strong emotional bonds that many modern readers would recognize as early BL seeds.

Still, Keiko Takemiya’s work was the one that cemented BL as a genre. Without it, we probably wouldn’t have the thriving BL industry we enjoy today, from manga to manhwa to webtoons like Define the Relationship.

How BL Evolved Over Time

After Kaze to Ki no Uta, the BL genre grew rapidly. In the 1980s and 1990s, it was known as “yaoi,” a term fans used for male-male romance stories that ranged from sweet to explicit. These works developed their own tropes: the seme (dominant partner) and uke (submissive partner) dynamic, high-drama love stories, and plenty of emotional rollercoasters.

By the 2000s, BL had exploded beyond Japan, with international fan communities translating and sharing titles. That’s when Korea entered the scene, and BL manhwa began to shine.

The Korean Wave and Webtoons

Fast forward to today, and Korea is one of the biggest forces behind BL’s global popularity. Webtoons revolutionized the way we read, with their vertical scrolling format and easy access on phones.

This is where titles like Semantic Error, Killing Stalking, and of course, Define the Relationship made their mark. While Japanese manga laid the foundation, Korean manhwa gave BL a fresh, modern platform that made it accessible to millions of readers worldwide.

If you’re curious to experience how far BL has come, you can check out Define the Relationship here: Define the Relationship. It’s a perfect example of how BL storytelling continues to evolve while keeping the emotional intensity that fans love.

Why Fans Care About the First BL

You might be asking, Why does it matter which story came first? Well, part of the joy of being in a fandom is knowing the history. Understanding where BL started gives us a deeper appreciation for the stories we read now.

It also highlights how daring those early creators were. At a time when same-sex relationships weren’t widely accepted in the media, artists like Keiko Takemiya were breaking barriers and giving fans something new to connect with. That spirit of creativity and defiance still lives in BL today.

BL Then vs BL Now

Comparing the first BL works to modern titles is fascinating. Early BL like Kaze to Ki no Uta was often heavy, dramatic, and symbolic. Today’s BL manhwa, while it can still be emotional, often blends in humor, slice-of-life elements, and more diverse relationship dynamics.

For example, Define the Relationship mixes drama with warmth, showing that BL can be both heartfelt and entertaining. It’s proof that the genre has grown far beyond its origins, while still keeping that emotional heartbeat that made people fall in love with it decades ago.

So, what is the first BL ever? Most fans would point to Kaze to Ki no Uta in the mid-1970s. It may not look like the BL webtoons we know today, but it set the stage for everything that followed. From those early pages to the colorful scrolls of modern manhwa, BL has come a long way — and it’s only getting bigger.

For fans of Define the Relationship and other BL manhwa, it’s amazing to think that our favorite webtoons trace their roots back nearly fifty years. The journey from pioneering manga to the global webtoon phenomenon shows just how powerful these stories are.

And who knows? Maybe one of today’s manhwa will be remembered as a classic that shaped the future of BL for the next generation.