I Ship My Rival x Me Chinese danmei in English for first time
As Chinese danmei (aka Boys’ Love) manga, anime and dramas are becoming massively popular around the world, it is probably no surprise Seven Seas Entertainment has just announced they have licensed the Chinese BL manhua series I Ship My Rival x Me by PEPA and Qualia.
One of a huge number of Chinese BL manhua, it is Seven Seas’ first foray into this genre but, hopefully, won’t be their last as there are some excellent titles out there.
The I Ship My Rival x Me manhua is based on the danmei/Boys’ Love novel of the same name, and will be published in full-color throughout.
According to Seven Seas, the I Ship My Rival x Me plot is a light-hearted romantic comedy that follows actors Wei Yanzi and Gu Yiliang who, after being the subjects of shipping rumors, may just end up making those rumors a reality.
That plot looks something like this:
Wei Yanzi and Gu Yiliang debuted together three years ago, from the same agency, so it was inevitable that they’d be considered rivals by their fans. Unfortunately for Wei Yanzi, while Gu Yiliang has phenomenal acting skills to go with his idol-tier good looks…Wei Yanzi only has the idol-tier good looks.
He’s so tired of reading online hate comments accusing him of scheming to undermine Gu Yiliang that when he stumbles across a community of people who fervently believe the two actors are an item, it’s not just a shock—it’s a relief!
Moved by these fans’ passion and thrilled to find a community where nobody’s trash-talking him, Wei Yanzi becomes addicted to their posts analyzing his and Gu Yiliang’s every move for shipping fuel.
Of course there’s nothing actually going on between the two of them…but as he spends more time with Gu Yiliang on the period drama they’re filming together, why is Wei Yanzi starting to feel like the shippers might actually be onto something?!
The first volume of I Ship My Rival x Me (The Comic / Manhua) is due out in English via Seven Seas in November, 2024.
It will be a large-trim edition (yay!), in full-color.
It is also part of the new, but licensing new titles fast, Seven Seas Webtoons label, which has been pleasing Boys’ Love manga, manhua and manhwa fans for a while now.
That imprint, by the way, already publishes several other excellent Boys’ Love titles including Punch Drunk Love (so good!) and The Dangerous Convenience Store (Vol. 3 coming out in June – and one of my absolute fave BL titles).
They have also announced Volume 1 of the popular Korean BL manhwa No Love Zone coming out in August.