@chaser I didn't watch the anime, I only read the manga and I can't remember that happening, guess I gotta reread from the beginning again (which won't be a problem since I freaking love Natsume!). Anyway yeah as far as I'm concerned they are all friends and yeah it can be a little touchy feely sometimes but you gotta remember that Natsume was a kid who wasn't treated with a whole lot of affection growing up, so all his friendships and encounters will be special to him.
@optiso you're talking about Natori, yeah you're correct that he kept coming back but you gotta look at it from this perspective: Natsume meets this dude who isn't (at first) interested in helping the Ayakashi, but rather destroying/exorcising them, it's someone who Natsume thought shared the same viewpoint as him at first but that quickly changed so it makes sense that he became interested in Natori. After he was introduced of course the mangaka would keep bringing him back, he is fanservice by himself. And yeah, of course you could interpret Natsume and Natori's relationship as being 'something more' but you could do that with literally any of the other characters and Natsume, it's all how you yourself see it.
But it could also be the mangaka was pressured into adding yaoi undertones because of the growing popularity of the series. That could be true as well.
07-Ghost manga has less emphasis on the yaoi undertones (especially in the later chapters as Teito is introduced to a girl character), but I can definitely agree it's there in the anime 😂 yes I read and watched 07-Ghost, I was a teen who didn't know better (ngl the manga wasn't that bad).
The series with the vampires that you are referring to is Owari no Seraph, of which I am a fan. It took me a minute to figure it out but your description is fucking amazing 🤣🤣
In the case of Owari no Seraph that's just the fandom shipping TF out of the main characters Yuu and Mika imo, there isn't any sort of romantic anything between them. In fact, Yuu is just fucking dense, as much as I love him 😂
He already has a girl who loves him and since the manga isn't leaning towards any boys love angle, most likely the girl will get him in the end. Or he will end up single, but I doubt that. We might have a spin off 😂😂
I'll end this off by saying that I am an avid reader of BL and Yaoi so if there were yaoi undertones I'd be the first to spot it imo 🤣 but I could also be the most dense person on the face of the Earth 😂
So unless a manga is labeled as a BL or Yaoi I don't expect it 👌
Thanks for the replies btw, I love civil discussion 🙏🙏