Yaoi (Boy Love :3)

[Sylph]

Who besides me watches Yaoi? ... Nobody?

Well, I thought I'd share some with you and if you do watch them too, you can share yours as well.

Oh but wait, I bet you're wondering what "Yaoi" is. Well here's what it is;

Yaoi also known as Boys' Love, is a Japanese popular term for female-oriented fictional media that focus on homoerotic or homoromantic male relationships, usually created by female authors. As these depict males, there is an androphilic male audience as well, however manga aimed at a gay male audience is considered a separate genre. Originally referring to a specific type of dōjinshi (self-published works) parody of mainstream anime and manga works, yaoi came to be used as a generic term for female-oriented manga, anime, dating sims, novels and dōjinshi featuring idealized homosexual male relationships. The main characters in yaoi usually conform to the formula of the seme ("attacker") who pursues the uke ("receiver"). In Japan, the term has largely been replaced by the rubric Boys' Love (Bōizu Rabu), which subsumes both parodies and original works, and commercial as well as dōjinshi works. Although the genre is called Boys' Love (commonly abbreviated as "BL"), the males featured are pubescent or older. Works featuring prepubescent boys are labeled shotacon, and seen as a distinct genre. Yaoi (as it continues to be known among English-speaking fans) has spread beyond Japan: both translated and original yaoi is now available in many countries and languages.

Yaoi began in the dōjinshi markets of Japan in the late 1970s/early 1980s as an outgrowth of shōnen-ai (also known as "Juné" or "tanbi"), but whereas shōnen-ai (both commercial and dōjinshi) were original works, yaoi were parodies of popular shōnen anime and manga, such as Captain Tsubasa and Saint Seiya.

BL creators and fans are careful to distinguish the genre from bara, including "gay manga", which are created by and for gay men. However, some male manga creators have produced BL works.
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Well now that that's all covered, let's get on to it .

These are my favourites first :3 . [Non-Youtube cannot be embedded unfortunately]

Gravitation
Gravitation-Episode 1

The story follows the attempts of Shuichi Shindo and his band, Bad Luck, to become Japan's next musical sensation and his struggles to capture Yuki's heart. Fitting for the subject, the anime features a large amount of music, a diverse set of characters, plenty of comedy, romance, and touches of drama and violence.

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Loveless
Loveless-Episode 1

In his first day at his new school, twelve-year-old Ritsuka Aoyagi meets a mysterious twenty-year-old male named Soubi Agatsuma. Soubi claims to be a good friend of Ritsuka's brother, Seimei, who was murdered a few months earlier. Upon the inspection of Seimei's abandoned computer files, Ritsuka discovers that an organization called 'Seven Moons' (Nana no tsuki) was responsible for Seimei's death.

As Ritsuka quickly discovers, Seimei and Soubi acted as a pair involved in spell battles invoked by carefully selected words. Now Soubi is Ritsuka's 'sentouki', or Fighter Unit, and Ritsuka is his 'Sacrifice'. Together, they challenge Seven Moons to find out the truth behind Seimei's murder and the reason for Ritsuka's amnesia, and form an intimate bond as they unravel the mystery. Until they find out that Seimei is still alive and that is where trouble begins

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Kyo Kara Maoh! (Demon King from now on(?)
Kyo Kara Maoh! - Episode 1

Kyo Kara Maoh!, takes place in an alternate world that Yuri Shibuya travels to by coming in contact with water. There are many nations in the alternate world, however, the plot centers around the The Great Demon Kingdom (Shin Makoku?, True Mazoku Land). The people of the kingdom are Demons ( Mazoku?), but appear indistinguishable from human. Their only distinguishing traits are their long lives and the ability to use magic. The people of the Demon Tribe are able to make a pact with an element which they can then use magic of that element. Covenant Castle is in the capital of the Demon Kingdom. It is the residence of the Demon King (Maoh?, Mazoku King). The culture of The Great Demon Kingdom is very different from the Japanese culture Yuri is accustomed to, and the differences make for some amusing mishaps with long ranging consequences, such as an accidental proposal of marriage.

Yuri Shibuya was living a pretty normal life. That changed the day he was dunked into a toilet after an attempt to save a classmate from a gang of bullies. Instead of just getting a good soaking, he's pulled in. The next thing he knows, he's in a world that vaguely resembles medieval Europe. If that's not odd enough, he's told that he is the next Demon King. The Demon King is the King of the demon tribe, who are coexisting not-so-peacefully with the humans in this world. Now, Yuri has to deal with trying to become a good King, while at the same time attempting to adapt to this land's customs and culture, all in a world where the tension between the humans and demon tribe is reaching its peak.

(I like this one, cause the bottom is effeminate, but very tough :3 . )

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This is it for now :3 . For some reason, Youtube doesn't want to play some parts of these Yaoi's, so I just went to an alternate site so you can watch them, though unfortunately I can't figure out how to embed them, so sorry .

Also for clear reference, alot of these Yaois focus on Seme (Top) and Uke(Bottom) relationships, because it was originally made in parody to straight relationships in anime/manga. I think there are some with Versatiles in them, but I can't remember :p .

Anywho, view/share/comment . I'm silently wondering if anyone besides me is a Yaoi nerd :o :p .

[jaxc]

the only yoai anime i've ever seen was descendants of darknes the kyoto files( as you can guess i like gorey/violent animes:biggrin

[Sylph]

That show reminds me of Death Note :o . I remember looking at it, but I was like "ehh, kinda creepy" lol :p . I might give a whirl this time around though.

[Nick9]

I know it exists, but I've never read it or watched it.
I am not sure if my information is correct, but I've heard that even though there is a lot of manga magazines in Japan, some of them very expressive and some would be considered illegal in the US (children and minors involved), the society is not very responsive to gay/lesbinas. That people are not used to see gay couples kissing or holding hands on public and national TV doesn't mention them at all.

Like I said, I am not sure if it is correct, but it sounds interesting (and weird and not right...)

[Pix]

I looked at it before out of curiosity and found it cute.

Just out of curiosity, have you seen or read any bara? My understanding is that the primary difference between yaoi and bara is the former is mostly written by women for women and the latter is written by men for men. If you've seen both I'd like to know how you contrast them.

I'm also intrigued by the fact that there are a few men who seem wired to enjoy media aimed at women and vice versa, even when they otherwise conform (more or less) to gender roles. And even when this isn't the case there are some stories aimed at women that men seemed to enjoy as well and vice versa. If I could ever figure it out better then I could figure out what to recommend to friends better.

[Rawr]

I've watched quite a bit of Shounen-ai.

Gravitation was the first Shounen-ai anime I saw and I really liked it. It's no doubt one of my favourites in that catorgory. Another favourite is Sekai-ichi Hatsukoi TV. Here's a list of the ones I've seen alongside the rating I gave them.

Sekai-ichi Hatsukoi TV (4/5)
Sekai-Ichi Hatsukoi TV 2 (4/5)
Gravitation (4/5)
Koi Suru Boukun (3.5/5)
Betrayal Knows My Name (3.5/5)
Junjou Romantica 2 (3.5/5)
Junjou Romantica (3.5/5)
Monochrome Factor (3/5)
Gakuen Heaven (3/5)
Descendants of Darkness (3/5)
Sex Pistols (2/5)
Kachou no Koi (0.5/5)

Some of them are OVA's and stuff... I watched Loveless although after the first two episodes I quit. I didn't like it much, I tried to watch it again later on but I just couldn't.

[Rawr]

That show reminds me of Death Note :o . I remember looking at it, but I was like "ehh, kinda creepy" lol :p . I might give a whirl this time around though.

Death Note was a millions time better

[StarletHologram]

I dooooo!!. I love Yaoi mangas and animes. The last one I saw was Marginal Prince... I think that was a shame, pretty stupid and a wasted potential, cause all the time I was expecting a romance, and it never happened:frown:. You know, all that stucked-up, pampered creeps with their smug manners:mad:. But I had to admit they were very well designed. A colorful anime I must say:tongue:, starting with their hairs.




Oh, and there´s that incestuous anime movie Papa to kiss in the dark, scandalous and polemic but charming at the same time.




And last, but not least, I love that suggestive scene between Kagi and Shingi on the new EVANGELION movie.




I hope to find a good yaoi anime soon.

[Lunar]

I actually caught my sister watching Yaoi :tongue: I would never expect that she would like such a genre. I never questioned her about it.

I really don't need another thing to get hooked on

[Gizzie]

Ohhhhh, Shinji and Kaji!!!

I am not a big BL fan, but I have accidentally ventured into that section in places like mandarake and melon books. It's just, the fujyoshi are sooo scary, they kinda prevent me from venturing into that genre any further. lol

My understanding of BL vs Bara is that Bara is basically one magazine "Barazoku" , which is written by men for men and is more literary than BL which is just a genre of manga/ anime.
Here is a wiki link...:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barazoku

Anyhow, I am from Tokyo, but I think Japan is not being non responsive to homosexuals.
The japanese culture is about compartimentalizing, and your love life is not something you put on public display, whether it is straight or homosexual.
Of course the younger generation are starting to show public displays of affection, but since the straight are the majority, of course you will see more of them then the gays.

But in general, there are many gay celebrities and cross dressing / being gay is not such a big deal.
It's just that like with many other matters, people dont parade around emphasizing that they are gay, just as they dont parade around stating what political party they support or what religion they believe in. at the same time, even if your boss is into SM and bondage, as long as he keeps it to himself, no one cares.