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Twittering Birds Never Fly, Given Top 2020 BL Awards

The boys-love website Chil Chil announced the winners of its 11th annual BL Awards on Friday. The awards honor manga, novels, drama CDs, voice actors, characters, and cover design in the boys-love genre. The winning works are decided via popular vote on the website.

The Best Series winner is Kou Yoneda's Twittering Birds Never Fly, available in English from Digital Manga Publishing. The series launched in 2011 and follows the sexually masochistic yakuza boss, Yashiro. Yashiro is typically a cold man but when Chikara Doumeki, his newly hired bodyguard, catches his interest, he reconsiders his "hands-off" policy with subordinates. As Yashiro's invitations fail, the yakuza boss finds out his bodyguard has a very personal reason for staying at arm's length.

Twittering Birds Never Fly was adapted into the first of three planned 60-minute anime films. Saezuru Tori wa Habatakanai: The Clouds Gather opened in theaters in Japan on February 15.

The runner-up in Best Series is Natsuki Kizu's Given, licensed in English by SuBLime. The story follows Ritsuka who played guitar but has lost interest in the instrument. One day, he meets Mafuyu, who is holding a broken guitar. Ritsuka unwillingly starts teaching Mafuyu the guitar, but when he hears Mafuyu's voice, things suddenly begin to change for Ritsuka.

Kizu's manga was adapted into an 11-episode anime series last year and a sequel film is slated to open in theaters in May.

This year's winners are listed below. Any series or books available in English are marked with an (*)

This year's winners includes:

Best Comic

1. One Room Angel by Harada
2. I Didn't Mean to Fall in Love by Minta Suzumaru* available in English on futekiya
3. Birds of Shangri-La by Ranmaru Zariya* available in English from SuBLime
4. Love Nest (second volume) by Yuu Minazuki
5. Happy Kuso Life by Harada
6. Someday I'll Fall for You by Tomo Kurahashi* available in English on Renta!
7. By My Side by Kazuki Natsume

Best Series

1. Twittering Birds Never Fly by Kou Yoneda* available in English from DMP
2. Given by Natsuki Kizu* available in English from SuBLime
3. Blue Sky Complex by Kei Ichikawa
4. Hadakeru Kaibutsu by Ogeretsu Tanaka
5. Cupid ni Rakurai by Minta Suzumaru
6. DAKAICHI -I'm being harassed by the sexiest man of the year- by Hashigo Sakurabi
7. Koisuru Intelligence by Michi Tange

Newcomer

1. Kiraide Isasete by Hijiki
2. Ookami e no Yomeiri: Ishu Kon'intanby Hana Inui
3. There's Fanfiction About Us?by Tsubame Koshiora* available in English on Renta!
4. Afurete Koborete Gaman Dekinai by Yamachi
5. Living with Him (Kare no Iru Seikatsu) by Toworu Miyata
6. Sonokoi Jihanki de Kaemasuka? by Haruaki Yoshii
7. Ichika, Bachika by Shikke

Voice Actors

1. Sōma Saitō
2. Kazuyuki Okitsu
3. Makoto Furukawa
4. Yūki Ono
5. Takuya Satō
6. Yūsuke Kobayashi
7. Tarusuke Shingaki

Source: Chil-Chil via Nijimen