A Man Who Defies the World of BL (Japanese: 絶対BLになる世界VS絶対BLになりたくない男, Hepburn: Zettai BL ni Naru Sekai VS Zettai BL ni Naritakunai Otoko; lit. "A World That Definitely Becomes BL VS A Man Who Definitely Doesn't Want to Be in BL") is a Japanese manga series by Konkici. The manga is serialized digitally in Pixiv Comic and the manga mobile app Manga Jam since November 7, 2018.
A live-action television drama adaptation was released on March 27, 2021, and has run for four seasons.
Contents
Plot
The protagonist, a plain-looking college student, discovers that he is living in a world where scenarios seen in boys' love stories are common, culminating in his male acquaintances falling in love. However, the protagonist wants to be nothing more than a background character and avoids getting into one of these situations himself, all while commenting on the events unfolding.
Characters
Protagonist (主人公, Shujinko)
Voiced by: Yoshiki Nakajima (drama CD)
Portrayed by: Atsuhiro Inukai
The unnamed protagonist designates himself as a background character.
Ayato (綾人)
Voiced by: Reiou Tsuchida (drama CD)
Portrayed by: Yūtarō
Ayato is the protagonist's younger brother.
Tōjō (東條)
Voiced by: Takuya Eguchi (drama CD)
Portrayed by: Akihisa Shiono
Tōjō is Ayato's best friend and, eventually, boyfriend. His main character trait is being "so good-looking that roses appear around him."
Kikuchi (菊池)
Portrayed by: Asahi Ito
Kikuchi is the protagonist's best friend. His role in the story was greatly expanded for the television drama adaptation.
Uchiumi (内海)
Portrayed by: Koji Kominami
Yanagi (柳)
Voiced by: Hiro Shimono (drama CD)
Portrayed by: Shin Tamura
Yanagi is one of Ayato's friends who has an unrequited crush on him and is thus reluctant to have Tōjō around him. His main character trait is being "cute."
Media
Manga
A Man Who Defies the World of BL is written and illustrated by Konkici. It is serialized digitally on Pixiv Comic and the manga mobile app Manga Jam beginning on November 7, 2018. The chapters were later released in three bound volumes by Shodensha under the Feel Comics FC Jam imprint and the subsequent three volumes were published by Shinchosha.
A spin-off manga by Konkici titled Zettai BL ni Naru Sekai & Zettai BL ni Naranai Kōkō Seikatsu (絶対BLになる世界&絶対BLにならない高校生活, A World That Definitely Becomes BL & A High School Life That Will Definitely Not Be BL) began serializing digitally on the Kurage Bunch website on April 1, 2025. The first volume was released by Shinchosha.
An English-language translation was licensed by Viz Media under their SuBLime imprint, with the first volume published in August 2025.
Drama CDs
An audio drama CD was released on April 24, 2020, starring Yoshiki Nakajima as the protagonist, Reiou Tsuchida as Ayato, and Takuya Eguchi as Tōjō. The CD was packaged with an 8-page exclusive comic drawn by Konkici and a character song CD with Nakajima performing as his character. It charted at #44 on the Oricon Weekly Album Rankings upon its first week of release. A second drama CD released on May 26, 2021, with Hiro Shimono as Yanagi, Nobuhiko Okamoto, Kōhei Amasaki, Tatsuhisa Suzuki, and Wataru Hatano added as additional cast members. The second drama CD contains a 12-page exclusive comic drawn by Konkici. A third drama CD released on October 26, 2022, a fourth on August 23, 2023, and a fifth on November 8, 2024.
Television drama
A live-action television series adaptation was broadcast on February 18, 2021. The series will be airing weekly beginning on March 27, 2021, on CS TV Asahi Channel 1 at 9 PM, with simultaneous international broadcasts in South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, Vietnam, the Philippines, Hong Kong, and Macao. It is directed by Kōichirō Miki, with Izumi Kawasaki in charge of the scriptwriting and Erina Koyama composing the music. Atsuhiro Inukai stars as the protagonist. Additional cast members include Yūtarō, Asahi Ito, Akihisa Shiono, Koji Kominami, Ryo Kitamura, Wataru Kuriyama, Fūma Sadamoto, Ryōta Kobayashi, Takuma Usa, Dish member Masaki Yabe, Shogo Hama, Yohdi Kondo, Kyōya Honda, and Shūya Sunagawa. Enjin members Taiga Nakamoto and Ryono Kusachi were later announced as additional cast members. The show's theme song is "Bubble Love" by Da-ice, with Da-ice member Hayate Wada making a special appearance in the show. The opening theme song is "Ore wa Mob" performed by the main cast of the drama, credited as "Atsuhiro Inukai with LoveBoys."
A second season was broadcast on March 20, 2022, with Kenta Izuka replacing Kominami as a series regular. A third season, titled A Man Who Defies the World of BL 2024, was announced on December 25, 2023, with the main cast reprising their roles. It is directed by Ryuichi Honda, with Izumi Kawasaki in charge of scripts and Erina Koyama in charge of the music. The third season is produced by Fine Entertainment, with Yoshimoto Broad Entertainment, NTT Docomo, and Fany Studio also included on the production team. The third season was streamed on Lemino on April 23, 2024.
Streaming platform Viki licensed the first season in English with a release date of July 23, 2021. Viki also licensed and released the second season in English.
Reception
In 2019, A Man Who Defies the World of BL was shortlisted at #11 at the Next Manga Awards in the Web category held by the magazine Da Vinci. It was ranked at #4 at Pixiv and Nippon Shuppan Hanbai's Web Manga General Election.