This article lists the Yaoi and overlapping Bara, and Shounen-ai materials that started their release at some point in 2020. For the calendar year of January 1, 2020 to December 31, 2020 the first entry of each format is featured and listed chronologically by the month each began to be released.
From the various stories occurring within each format there may be unfamiliar terms involved throughout them. The series cover many different genres of which artwork can, but not always reflect. Where this article displays materials released in 2020, to view other years the Content Released by Year page is available.
2020 Series[]
There are eight formats that yaoi series were released in across 2020. First, for anime there was the Chinese donghua Jie Yao (Antidote) released at the start of the year in January. The Jie Yao (Antidote) anime had thirteen episodes at eighteen minutes per episode to contribute to the total number of yaoi anime seasons that are available. There was one anime movie made available in the final month of the year, namely Masaka no Kintarou. This movie came twelve years after the Masaka no Kintarou manga first began in 2008. The The Titan's Bride series had anime episodes released in July, one year after the manga commenced in 2019. There was notably a second format release for The Titan's Bride in 2020, namely a drama CD in December that continued the story covered in the anime. There were no ONAs released in 2020, neither OVAs.
A notable drama CD released was for Zettai BL ni Naru Sekai vs Zettai BL ni Naritakunai Otoko in April which continues to build upon the manga and movie formats established in 2018. There was a drama CD adaption of a manhwa namely that for On or Off in the month of June. The drama CD for I Love You. I'm Sorry covers the first six chapters of that manga series which began in 2016.
Where the article is detailing the first release of a format, it is the same for games. While My Dangerous Life was released for the Nintendo Switch on August 5, 2022, it was first available in 2020 on Steam, hence why its image is featured for the month here as the very first time it was released. The visual novel Room No. 9 was able to be released in 2020 by a company that last released a game some years ago in 2013.
For Japanese manga, the Isekai no Sata wa Shachiku Shidai series was a remarkable release as it came one year after the initial light novel release that founded the series. The chapters released in 2020 for Maou Evelogia ni Mi wo Sasage yo became all the more notable when an anime adaption of them aired in 2021. Where sequels are not at all common, this year saw the release of one in Dekoboko Sugar Days (Mou Ikkai!). That was a sequel story to Dekoboko Sugar Days which began in 2017. This year sees the I Hear the Sunspot series that began in 2013 continue its reign of sequel releases. After I Hear the Sunspot: Theory of Happiness was released in 2015, and then I Hear the Sunspot: Limit became available in 2016, four years later from that here in 2020 there would be I Hear the Sunspot: Four Seasons to continue the story in what is set to be a very select case of a manga continuing over years and with sequels formed. A spin-off story from Hoshi to Harinezumi is Love Me Love My Dog where the latter is a related to another series story that had a drama CD released for it this year. Boku Wa Kimi Dake No Mono released in June of this year is a sequel to Ore shika Shiranai Karada released in August 2018. Beginning with Haru wo Daiteita in 1997, which had an anime adaption in 2005, and then a sequel story Haru wo Daiteita: Alive in 2013, in June of this year a related series Haru wo Daiteita: Afterward would commence.
Often going on to reach a large number of chapters, some Chinese manhua series began in 2020 before reaching their heights. Where the story has proceeded past the 100 chapter mark, the first chapter of My Delicious Dream Boy first commenced in November 2020. The Baby Come On!! manhua that began this year would go on to be translated into English for the series to be viewed by a wider audience.
For Korean manhwa released in 2020, what has become a particularly popular yaoi series overall is Pearl Boy which was first released in this year in October. Similarly the four seasons of Passion have proved to be especially well liked. Where the 4 Week Lovers story was first depicted in a manhwa, it would be a rare one that would have an anime adaption later in 2023. From its founding in this year as a manhwa, The New Recruit would have novels available for the series starting in 2022. Another series that has reached a high number of chapters since its beginning in 2020 is Love for Sale.
A range of novels made their debut, from web novels, light novels, to entirely text ones. After the Speak of the Devil novel began in 2020, there would be a manhwa adaption of them in 2021. The same occurred for the 99.99% Lovers novel series. A light novel Mr. Melancholy Wants to Live a Peaceful Life is an example of one released in 2020.
Many webtoons have been made available where digital releases are fast becoming the greatest means of sharing stories in all of yaoi history. The winning methods of the past such as physically drawing manga pages, to time spent crafting games, to the process of forming anime, no such production method is as rapid as digital productions as webtoons attest to. Contributing ever more is that yaoi is being formed in further countries, such as the The Fox in My Bed series from Indonesia. In a departure from them being manga, there was a one-shot made available in the one chapter A Dog-Like Guy webtoon.
January[]
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February[]
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March[]
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April[]
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May[]
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July[]
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August[]
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September[]
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October[]
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November[]
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December[]
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Released in 2020[]
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Observations[]
- In 2020 the most released format was Korean manhwa where over 100 series started their publication across the year. From the most to least format releases over 2020, the order was:
- Korean manhwa: over 100
- Universal webtoons: 50+
- Japanese Manga: at least 30
- Drama CDs:
- Chinese manhua:
- Novels:
- Games: 1
- Anime: 3
- The most prevalent genre that 2020 series contributed to was the genre with at least series being related ones. From the most to the least genre releases:
- Romance:
- Action:
- Adventure:
- Comedy:
- Drama:
- Fantasy:
- Historical:
- Horror:
- Isekai:
- Music:
- Mystery:
- Omegaverse:
- Polyamory:
- Psychological:
- Romance:
- School:
- Science Fiction:
- Slice of Life:
- Sports:
- Supernatural:
- Thriller:
Further 2020 Events[]
Where anime can be released and concluded within a year, then with drama CDs, books, and games often being a single release on a set date, print material chapters are released over time. Accordingly a manga series for instance can be released in one year to be finished in a later one. A series can have a different commencing year for a print release, but share a year of release, 2020 in this case.
- 2020 was also the year where a number of print series were able to be completed: