Tadaima, Okaeri is a newer boy’s love (yaoi) anime that’s been quietly wrecking people in the best possible way. It’s tender, domestic, emotionally soft, and still layered with real adult struggles — parenting, insecurity, love, identity, safety. It’s also an Omegaverse story, which adds an extra layer of worldbuilding and family dynamics you don’t usually get in standard romance anime. Because of that mix, a lot of fans finish an episode and immediately go, “Okay, what do I watch next?”

Here’s the thing: there isn’t one single series that’s exactly like Tadaima, Okaeri. The tone is too specific. So instead of trying to force one-to-one comparisons, this guide focuses on boy’s love / yaoi anime with overlapping vibes — emotional bonds, slow-building romance, found family, queerness handled with some level of sincerity, and character-driven storytelling. We’re going deeper into each pick so you know which one fits your mood before you hit play.

Boy’s Love / Yaoi Anime to Watch If You Loved Tadaima, Okaeri

Sasaki and Miyano

Sasaki and Miyano is one of those shows that sneaks up on you. On the surface, it’s a soft high school BL about a nervous little bookworm (Miyano) and the older “bad boy” upperclassman (Sasaki) who becomes completely, hopelessly obsessed with him. But it’s more than just “shy boy + bold boy.” It’s about identity in a really gentle way — especially queer identity, and what it means to realize your feelings for someone aren’t a joke, or a phase, or fan service.

One of the best parts of Sasaki and Miyano is how respectful it is of boundaries. Nothing is rushed. Nobody gets pressured. Sasaki clearly likes Miyano, but instead of pushing him into something he’s not ready for, he waits and lets Miyano figure out how he feels. That’s actually pretty rare in BL anime, where it’s common for one character to bulldoze the other’s comfort. Here, it’s closer to what you’d actually want for your favorite soft boy.

This series also plays with BL as a concept. Miyano reads BL manga, and Sasaki starts reading it too because he wants to understand Miyano better. So you get this hilarious, self-aware “I’m reading stories about boys in love while falling in love with a boy, what does that mean for me??” spiral. It gives the show a sweet, meta, dorky charm that makes it feel really warm and safe.

Why you’ll like it if you loved Tadaima, Okaeri: The emotional tone. Nobody is screaming drama just to be dramatic. It’s about small moments — walking home from school, lending manga, brushing hands by accident and acting like it’s a medical emergency. It’s wholesome queer romance without cruelty. You can stream it right now on Crunchyroll.

Official synopsis: Shy and easily flustered Miyano harbors an embarrassing secret — he’s a “fudanshi,” a boy who loves boys’ love manga. When Sasaki, a clueless but sincere upperclassman, asks to borrow one, their friendship shifts into something new and complicated and maybe a little bit romantic.

Given

Given is what you watch when you’re ready to feel wrecked in the chest and also healed a tiny bit. It’s moody and slow-burning and intimate, and it never treats queerness as a joke. The story revolves around a small amateur band and the way music pulls these boys toward each other — emotionally and romantically — even when they don’t have the words yet.

The main couple, Uenoyama and Mafuyu, have a dynamic that starts out simple (“teach me guitar”) and slowly unfolds into something achingly personal. Mafuyu is grieving something huge. Uenoyama doesn’t understand at first — he just knows that hearing Mafuyu sing hits him like getting punched in the soul. There’s a performance scene in the middle of the series that people still talk about because it’s that raw and honest. No exaggeration: this one scene alone will either have you sobbing or staring silently at your wall like you just went through a breakup.

What makes Given special is that it treats the emotional lives of queer boys as serious, complicated, and worthy of empathy. It’s not fetishy. It’s not played for laughs. It’s about trauma, healing, trust, and letting someone see the ugliest parts of you without running away. And yes, it absolutely will hurt in places — but in a way that feels respectful, not manipulative.

The side couple (Haruki and Akihiko) adds a more mature, messy romance that brings in jealousy, history, and desire between adults instead of teens. So if you like layered relationship drama and you’re okay with real emotional stakes, you’ll love this too.

Why you’ll like it if you loved Tadaima, Okaeri: Tadaima, Okaeri leans into emotional honesty and vulnerability, especially between men. Given lives there. It just trades domestic life for band practice, grief processing, and first love. Be warned: the show does include themes of suicide and loss. Please take care of yourself while watching.

Official synopsis: A group of four students forms a rock band. As they make music together, two slow-burn romantic relationships emerge: guitarist Ritsuka Uenoyama and singer Mafuyu Satō, and bassist Haruki Nakayama and drummer Akihiko Kaji. Through music, they start confronting their own heartbreak, fear, and desire.

Hitorijime My Hero

Hitorijime My Hero is for viewers who don’t mind morally gray setups and want something a little more dramatic. The series leans into two big emotional threads: protection and belonging. Masahiro is a kid who’s basically given up on himself. He’s used by local delinquents, ignored by adults, and drifting. Kousuke Ohshiba — older, intimidating, rumored to be dangerous — steps in and becomes his anchor.

Yes, this is an age-gap, teacher/student situation, which is absolutely going to be a dealbreaker for some viewers. The show knows that and treats it with tension. It isn’t fluffy in the same way as Sasaki and Miyano. Instead, it leans into “you’re safe with me now” energy and explores how love can feel like rescue when you’ve never had stability before.

Underneath the romantic tension, there’s something honestly sweet: Masahiro is finally seen. Someone finally thinks he’s worth protecting, worth loving, worth staying for. For viewers who love emotionally intense “I will stand between you and the world” dynamics, this scratches that itch hard.

Why you’ll like it if you loved Tadaima, Okaeri: In Tadaima, Okaeri, there’s a huge emphasis on caregiving and emotional safety inside a relationship. Hitorijime My Hero chases that same feeling, but instead of building a home and raising a child, it’s more “I’m going to make you feel safe in your own life for the first time.” If you like protective partners, this one is absolutely for you.

Official synopsis: Masahiro Setagawa has basically given up on being “saved.” Then he meets Kousuke Ohshiba, a tough local legend nicknamed the “Bear Killer,” who shuts down the gangs around him — and suddenly Masahiro has someone who refuses to let him disappear.

Junjo Romantica

Junjo Romantica is one of the most well-known yaoi series out there, and also one of the most argued-about. It weaves together multiple couples and flips between them, bouncing from comedy to melodrama to intense romance. The main pairing, Misaki and Usami, is the one most people talk about. Misaki is just trying to pass his college entrance exams. Next thing he knows, he’s living with a famous novelist who is talented, dramatic, emotionally needy, and way too comfortable expressing attraction in ways Misaki is not remotely prepared for.

Here’s the honest part: Junjo Romantica does blur consent in places. That’s part of why it’s controversial. Some viewers love it as a messy, iconic classic of the BL genre; others bounce off it hard because of those dynamics. You are allowed to be either type of viewer. But if you’re curious about the “BL backbone titles” that basically shaped the genre, this is one of them.

Beyond the controversy, the show is a soap opera in the best way. You get jealousy. You get dramatic confessions. You get “I’m mad at you but also I can’t stand being away from you for 10 minutes.” You get adults trying to figure out legitimate love in situations that are not emotionally tidy. And because it follows multiple couples, you aren’t stuck in just one version of romance. You see different kinds of queerness, different kinds of attachment, different power balances.

Why you’ll like it if you loved Tadaima, Okaeri: You want something older, more chaotic, and bolder about queer adult relationships. Tadaima, Okaeri is soft and domestic. Junjo Romantica is messy and dramatic. But both center queer couples trying to build something real in a world that doesn’t always understand them.

Official synopsis: Misaki Takahashi is struggling to prepare for his college entrance exams, so his brother arranges a private tutor. Misaki is not ready for his tutor — Usami Akihiko, an award-winning novelist who quickly takes an interest in more than just study habits.

You can stream Junjo Romantica on Crunchyroll.

Sekaiichi Hatsukoi

Sekaiichi Hatsukoi lives in the same “unapologetically BL” universe as Junjo Romantica, but it shifts the setting to a manga publishing company and leans hard into workplace romance. So if you like office drama, unresolved history, exes-who-aren’t-over-it energy, this one will get you hooked fast.

Ritsu Onodera wants to prove himself as an editor without favoritism or special treatment. Unfortunately for him, he gets stuck under Takano — who is talented, demanding, and also happens to be Ritsu’s first love. That he never got over. That he never really got closure on. Which, of course, Takano knows and takes full emotional advantage of.

What’s fun about Sekaiichi Hatsukoi is that everyone is stressed all the time. They’re trying to publish romance manga on impossible deadlines while simultaneously living their own very dramatic romance manga. It’s self-aware, funny, and constantly teetering between professional tension and romantic tension. (Sometimes in the same scene.)

The tone is more adult than a lot of “cute school BL.” It’s about grown men dealing with pride, heartbreak, jealousy, and the weirdness of having to work every day with someone you once loved so hard it rewired your nervous system. It’s also about building something together — not a household, like in Tadaima, Okaeri, but a career, a future, and a sense of “we’re in this together, like it or not.”

Why you’ll like it if you loved Tadaima, Okaeri: You want adult characters with adult problems and real romantic stakes. You want to see two people who already have history figure out whether it’s safe to trust each other again. You want slow-burn, loaded eye contact, “I’m not jealous, I’m just… monitoring.”

Official synopsis: Ritsu Onodera transfers to the shoujo manga department at Marukawa Publishing, determined to prove himself. His new boss, Masamune Takano, is brilliant, relentless — and secretly Ritsu’s first love from high school. The past crashes into the present, and neither of them is as “over it” as they pretend.

The Stranger by the Beach

The Stranger by the Beach (also known as The Stranger by the Shore) is technically a movie, not a series, but it absolutely belongs on this list. If you’re craving something soft, reflective, and quietly romantic — something that feels like exhaling — this is it.

The story follows Shun, a writer living on a quiet island, and Mio, a lonely young man dealing with grief. Their chemistry isn’t explosive; it’s tender. It feels like “I see you, and I’ve been waiting for you,” not “we’re obsessed with each other on sight.” It also handles queerness in a way that a lot of people will find relatable: one of them is more emotionally ready to name what he wants, and the other is still figuring out how to exist as a gay man in a world that doesn’t always make room for that.

Visually, it’s gorgeous — seaside sunsets, soft lighting, intimate framing. Emotionally, it’s about moving toward each other at a pace that feels safe. This is a great pick if you want love without shouting, without chaos, without someone constantly slamming a door.

Why you’ll like it if you loved Tadaima, Okaeri: The warmth. The vulnerability. The feeling of “we’re building something that looks like home.” Tadaima, Okaeri is all about family and belonging. The Stranger by the Beach is about creating that sense of belonging from scratch with one other person.

Official synopsis: Shun’s quiet island life is interrupted when he meets Mio, who drifts through town with heartbreak in his eyes. After an unexpected goodbye and years apart, they reunite — and both have to decide what love is going to look like for them this time.

Cherry Magic! Thirty Years of Virginity Can Make You a Wizard?

Yes, the title is ridiculous. No, you should not skip it because of that. Cherry Magic is one of the purest adult BL romances out there. It’s adorable. It’s funny. It’s kind. And unlike a lot of BL, it features adults in their 30s — not teenagers, not college kids, not “secretly immortal fox spirits with six-pack abs.” Actual office workers with anxiety and deadlines and social awkwardness.

The premise: Adachi turns 30 without any romantic experience and suddenly gains the magical ability to read minds. Which would already be a nightmare for an anxious introvert. Except then he finds out that his handsome, popular coworker Kurosawa is deeply (and sweetly) in love with him. Like, worship-level devotion. From there, the show becomes this incredible exploration of self-worth. Adachi has to confront the idea that he is lovable — not “tolerable,” not “useful,” but actually wanted.

Meanwhile, Kurosawa, who looks confident and put-together on the outside, is actually this soft, anxious sweetheart who is terrified of pushing too hard. The way he tries to take care of Adachi without overwhelming him? Please. Instant puddle. It’s boyfriend behavior at a professional level.

What’s really refreshing about Cherry Magic is how gentle it is. Even the romantic tension is safe tension. It’s “do you like me back?” not “I’m going to corner you until you admit it.” If you’re burned out on unhealthy tropes, this show feels like a reset button.

Why you’ll like it if you loved Tadaima, Okaeri: Both shows respect emotional safety. Both say, “Love should make you feel held, not scared.” Cherry Magic also leans into adult life the way Tadaima, Okaeri leans into family life. In both stories, romance isn’t just butterflies — it’s support.

Official synopsis: Adachi, a 30-year-old virgin, suddenly gains the ability to hear people’s thoughts — and immediately learns that his attractive coworker Kurosawa is completely in love with him. As Adachi struggles with self-doubt and inexperience, the two slowly navigate what it means to go from coworkers to something so much more.

So Which One Feels Closest to Tadaima, Okaeri?

That depends on what you loved most:

• Domestic softness / building a life together: The Stranger by the Beach, Cherry Magic
• Wholesome, respectful courting: Sasaki and Miyano
• Gut-wrenching emotional honesty: Given
• Protective partner energy: Hitorijime My Hero
• Messy adult romance with history: Sekaiichi Hatsukoi, Junjo Romantica

And honestly, this is just the beginning. The BL/yaoi space is huge and getting more varied every year — softer stories, healthier dynamics, more adult characters, more queer narratives that feel lived-in instead of performative. It’s a great time to be watching.

If you’ve got another boy’s love or yaoi series that gave you the same emotional hit as Tadaima, Okaeri, share it in the comments. We love recommendations from real viewers, and we’re always looking for the next comfort show (or the next show that’s going to destroy us emotionally in the middle of the night).