Blend S Creator Surprises Fans With a BL Manga Getting an Anime Adaptation

If you watched Blend S years ago and still love its characters, chances are you would be happy to see a second season, right? But did you know that a new anime based on another manga by the same creator is premiering in January?

And get ready for a surprise: this time, we’re not talking about a comedy about girls working at a café. We’re talking about a Yaoi (BL) anime!

Blend S: The Comedy Anime That Won Fans Over in 2017

Nakayama Miyuki is the creator of Blend S, an anime that premiered in 2017 and ran for 12 episodes. Even today, its opening theme is still used as an internet meme. After all, it’s just that good!

The story follows Maika Sakuranomiya, a 16-year-old girl who starts working at Café Stile after repeatedly failing job interviews because of her intimidating glare.

What makes the café special is that each waitress has to play a specific character type. There’s a maid who acts like an imouto (little sister), another who plays the tsundere, one who takes on the onee-san (older sister) role, and, of course, Maika, who is assigned the sadistic maid persona.

It’s a simple premise, but it leads to plenty of hilarious situations. And if you watched the anime, you probably still remember the girls’ exaggerated personalities!

The Blend S manga wrapped up in 2022, with a total of 8 volumes. In other words, the story is complete, but Nakayama Miyuki continued working on other projects.

And that’s where things get surprising!

The Creator of Blend S Is Now Getting a Yaoi Anime!

Since 2021, Nakayama Miyuki has been publishing the BL (Boys’ Love) manga Shota Oni. Now, the series is also getting an anime adaptation, scheduled to premiere in January.

The interesting part is that the anime has received a new title: Ore to Yuu-nii.

For anyone who discovered the creator through Blend S, this is quite an unexpected change. After all, we’re talking about someone known for a comedy about girls working as themed maids at a café, who is now getting an adaptation of a BL story!

The contrast between the two works caught the attention of Japanese fans, especially those who followed Blend S and had no idea the creator also worked in this genre.

One post discussing the situation pointed out that the new anime doesn’t seem to be reaching many of Blend S’s former fans:

“The new work by the creator of Blend S is getting an anime in January, but it doesn’t seem to be reaching people who used to be fans of Blend S and the like. Well, considering how much the genre has changed, I suppose that’s to be expected. The fact that the title was also changed for the anime adaptation probably makes that even more likely.

A valley of disconnect!”

Japanese Fans Were Surprised by the Genre Change

The news sparked some interesting reactions among Japanese fans. Many Blend S fans had no idea Nakayama Miyuki also worked on BL, while others found the dramatic change in style pretty interesting.

Here are some of the reactions:

• “People who follow Manga Time Kirara generally don’t have much exposure to BL, do they…? I tried reading a little, but it just wasn’t really my thing.”
• “WAIT, IT WAS THE SAME CREATOR?!”
• “How about giving us a second season of Blend S too?”
• “The gap between Kirara and BL is just too huge…”
• “Blend S ended so abruptly that fans from back then can’t keep up with the creator anymore.”
• “I had no idea the person behind Blend S also drew BL?! Now I’m kind of curious and might check it out.”
• “I don’t know the series, but I think changing the title was a great decision.”
• “The creator of Shota Oni was the same person behind Blend S?!?!?!?! I discovered Blend S through the anime and really loved it, so I’m happy I found this out 😭 Thank you so much! 🙇‍♀️🙇‍♀️🙇‍♀️”
• “I was already surprised to find out they were by the same creator, but I was also surprised to learn that Yuniko Ayana is handling series composition for the Shota Oni anime. I didn’t know she worked on anything besides yuri, including BL.”
• “What a genre transformation! It’s like going from Tensai Bakabon to Himitsu no Akko-chan! Now I’m even more interested in this series!”
• “I already knew 🤓”
• “But BL is also being affected by content restrictions, isn’t it?”

If you’re confused by the term Kirara used in these comments, they’re referring to Manga Time Kirara magazine and its spin-off publications.

The magazine is well known for publishing manga about cute girls doing various activities, usually with plenty of comedy and slice-of-life moments. It’s exactly the kind of audience that came to associate Blend S with that particular style.