Lol you know what’s crazy? Is the fact that older bls weren’t any better either but with most of the new gen bls, rape and toxicity are glorified. For some reason an ML is only hot and gets more attention when they’re toxic
I mean not much has changed really. Nowadays you can pick and choose from the older stories and find good stories, but as they were being published the ecosystem was filled with the same problematic stories as today. 1) It's about what sells. More tropey and toxic stories sell bc of hot/cute characters, so authors are more compelled to write those stories for the cash. 2) The BL space is filled with perverts/degenerates. Fujoshi(?) was literally a term made because a lot of bl fans (in Japan) were wild with their tastes. And it stands that many authors maybe were fans before too, and so they write what they like. And so then and now you have a space filled with degenerates and (international) fans with cash that love toxic stories. A long standing conversation has also been about the willingness of fujos to romanticize anything, and also fetishising gay men and their relationships. 3) Most stories that have deeper plots also take time to develop and not many fans are willing to wait for that development, especially with how authors are pressured into tight schedules that can lead to health declines. I mean most mangas are limited to 5 chapter volumes, they gotta develop something quick to get the story done and maybe get a 2nd volume.
Glorification isn't new and I actually believe it was more common back in the day. Nowadays many BLs mention therapy, consent, etc. It even feels kinda cringe because it sounds like a therapist talking lol. But older stories did not give a fuck, nothing was really off the table.
Sorry for the long post
i feel that this is not really a manga but a manhwa problem, tho, i'm not saying that japanese writers are better because so called noncon or dubcon was always prevalent in yaoi manga, especially the old ones and there are many popular series where the romance starts off VERY questionably or the characters are bat shit disturbed just for the sake of the plot being... not boring, i guess. that being said, i've been reading yaoi for about the past 15 years, but i only started reading manhwa like a year ago, and i kid you not, in this short period of time i've read or stumbled upon more stories like what you're describing BACK TO BACK than i ever did while only reading manga.
it's disturbing to me that a vast majority of the most popular titles are full of abuse and rape, and whatnot, but it's even more disturbing to me that people decided to generalize such tropes as "toxic" and use that term as a quirky tag on ao3 to describe their tastes in fiction... jesus christ, it's like people getting desensitized more and more to such awful things. manipulation, blackmail or even psychological abuse to some extent can be called toxic, and you know what? sometimes, if the story is well crafted, i like to read about stuff like that, too, it does't make you a bad person, but for the love of god can we please call rape and abuse for what it is, and that is a crime, even in fiction.
bro… why cant bl be nowadays be like this? why does every bl nowadays have to have rape(from the ML), abuse, blackmail, SA? like why cant authors make a story that makes fucking sense, doesnt circle around %99.9 of the same bs bl’ plot which is (rape blackmail etc), like fucking hell whys consent not a thing in bls why is rape being so sexualized like i get its just fiction but i cant even read a newgen bl without fucking raging cuz the ml rapes the mc then says sorry for 2 chapters and its all forgotten and why the fuck they make ukes so weak and pathetic as well? anyway this comment section wasnt the right place for all this rant ik but wanted to say it anyways