Boys' Love, or Shōnen Ai, is a genre of manga that has traditionally existed in a bubble all to itself. For a long time, most fans of the genre kept their interest confined to their carefully curated internet spaces and reading groups. By now, Boys' Love has become more mainstream, as seen with series like Hyperventilation, to the point of being referenced in other genres. Many boys' love stories are even overtaking more traditional straight love stories in terms of popularity. The genre's history, however, extends much further back into the history of manga than most casual readers would think.

Boys' Love first came into prominence in the 1970s and went by several different names over the years. Terms like Yaoi, Shōnen Ai, and June covered this subsection of the shojo genre. Most of these stories were written by women, for women, and are not reflective of the experiences of homosexual men.