It can be fascinating to find out where the games and stories you love got their original spark of inspiration from. Here are some examples, both official and unconfirmed, of where BL creators got their spark of boys love appreciation from.
Chinese author Mo Xiang Tong Xiu, creator of international male/male romance bestsellers Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation, Heaven Official's Blessing, and Scum Villain's Self-Saving System, first encountered boys love as a middle schooler when she stumbled across D-Gray Man fanfiction.
She enjoyed reading the work of others so much she decided to write her own, and now she controls a worldwide boys love empire!
NITRO CHiRAL producer Digitaro cited the following shojo manga as early influences in the Togainu no Chi liner notes: "As a boy, most of the manga I read were hand-me-downs from my sister, who was six years older. Rose of Versailles made me a diehard fan. I cried at Hamidashikko, laughed at Patarillo, and fell for the Major from From Eroica with Love."
This is an unconfirmed link, but visual novel artist Nikaidou Shino has posted desk photos on twitter in the past, showing a figurine of Nanako from Persona 4.
The protagonists of the game Room no.9, illustrated by Nikaidou Shino, bear a resemblance to popular fan pairing of protagonist/Yosuke from Persona 4.
No.6 author Atsuko Asano has said her inspiration for the relationship between Shion and Nezumi was that of Eiji and Ash in Banana Fish.
No.6 is marginally less emotionally devastating that Banana Fish, but Atsuko Asano recently said she's going to write more stories set in the universe so hey, maybe everything will get worse!
My own (I count! I write male/male romance novels sometimes! That particular one even cites Lamento and Kaze to Ki no Uta in the author notes!) first encounter with Japanese male/male romance – typically called yaoi in the west, back in those ancient days of the nineties – was Neon Genesis Evangelion.
My brother was a big fan of the show – I tended more towards Sailor Moon, but the dub of Sailor Moon available at that time infamously made Zoisite a woman to avoid the Zoisite/Kunzite gay romance, so I hadn't been exposed to queer subtext in anime prior to Kaworu's introduction on Evangelion.
What was your introduction to male/male pairings? Did it inspire your own work? Comment on our twitter!