Others:  Manga

Boys Be... Manga began in 1991, and up to now, is still ongoing. It is featured weekly in the popular Kodansha Magazine, Weekly Shonen Jump, the same magazine that Rurouni Kenshin appeared in. At present, there have been 3 editions (dubbed as 'seasons' by the distributors) of the manga thus far, all drawn by Tamakoshi Hiroyuki and the storyboard by Itabashi Masahiro. Unlike with other mangas, whose anime versions are entirely based from the original written content, neither of the three editions of the manga are similar in any way to the story line of the TV Series, meaning the TV Series follows a completely independent story line that went on a completely separate trail than the print...




1ST EDITION: BOYS BE...

The 1st Edition of Boys Be... is probably the most "tame" out of all three seasons of the manga. Each volume consists of a love story which is completely independent from all the other volumes. Although the interconnected storyline does not apply to the manga as it does in the TV series, some of the concepts and narrative were taken from it. There are 32 volumes of the 1st Edition Manga all in all.

1st Edition:  Boys Be...
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2ND EDITION: BOYS BE... 2ND SEASON

The 2nd Edition of Boys Be, given the official title of "Boys Be... 2nd Season", is slightly a bit more inclined towards mature audiences due to its "adult" content. The lead male characters are even more perverted than usual, and the situations are a bit more compromising and radical to say the least. Like the 1st Edition of the Manga, Boys Be... 2nd Season's storyline are independent from each other as well, each volume focusing on different characters and their love stories/interests. The 2nd Edition Manga has less volumes than the first, having only 20 all in all.

2nd Edition:  Boys Be... 2nd Season
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3RD EDITION: BOYS BE... L CO-OP

The 3rd and latest Edition of the Manga thus far, is called Boys Be... L Co-op. This edition differs from its two predecessors in such that the storyline of each and every volume is interconnected through a club established by the three main characters to help themselves and others in their quest for love. They named the club "Love Affair Cooperative", hence the title L Co-op. Apart from the structure, the narrative is very different from the first two mangas as well. It is in a way unique because the L Co-ops, act like some sort of cupid for other people and themselves. The story, thus revolves on this concept but at the same time, the manga also contains some "extra" stories or a kind of miniseries. Like the 2nd Season, the Boys Be... L Co-op is intended for a more mature audience, since there are some sexually explicit content. The 3rd edition is by far the best, both in story and artwork. You can tell a big difference from looking at the covers alone. The covers for the L Co-op is the flashiest out of the three. This latest edition is also relatively, the shortest of the bunch, containing only 6 volumes in all.

3rd Edition:  Boys Be... L Co-op
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There are also other Boys Be reading materials aside from the mangas that have been released and distributed. They are: 

Novels 
Official Guide Book 
Boys Be... CD Book 
Boys Be... Last Season 






*Note: It has come to my attention that the last installment of L Co-op has been released last June of 2001. Not to worry though, because all the issues and editions of Boys Be... Mangas are still available through Kodansha's Shounen Magazine Comics Collection.