![]() The term comes from the Japanese verb ‘semeru’ which means ‘to attack’. Seme (攻め): When one refers to a character in a yaoi novel as the seme, they are usually referring to the dominant one in the relationship. Speaking of seme and uke, let’s move on to some terms that are commonly used among readers of yaoi, otherwise referred to as fujoshi or fudanshi (literally ‘rotten women’ and ‘rotten men’) Common Terms Used in Yaoi Plus it also helps that almost every yaoi features incredibly handsome and cool looking male characters for female readers to enjoy. Nozomi (left) takes on the role of the seme in his relationship with Tatsuyuki (right) despite looking conventionally prettier and more feminine than the latter. Though of course there are yaoi works who feature dynamics that are different from the typical seme and uke one such as Scarlet Beriko’s Yondaime Ooyamato Tatsuyuki which had the manlier looking member of the Yakuza Tatsuyuki take on the role of the bottom in his relationship with the pretty-looking Nozomi. In a typical yaoi manga, you will have your seme (see below), who takes on the role of the dominant top or the role of the male, and the uke (see below), who is the submissive bottom taking on the role of the female in the relationship. Nagakubo is a graduate researcher of Senshu University with the focus of her research being yaoi in Japanese literature. In her book On Yaoi Novels, Senshu University graduate researcher Yoko Nagakubo states that women could also be drawn to yaoi as it oftentimes depicts homosexual relationships that mimic heterosexual relationships, in what is called a ‘heterosexual code’ that is reduced to its minimum. ![]() SM Gokko, a yaoi manga which explores a BDSM relationship. They can also use the various stories to explore their own sexual interests, without having to worry about societal norms and not having to engage in any sexual activities with men themselves. With the stars in Yaoi manga being men, taboo themes like rape, having sex for the first time, and violence can be explored without harm to the female reader. One reason is that it gives women a safe space to explore their sexuality. There are a number of reasons why the Yaoi genre resonates so well with the female demographic. Though many would regard Keiko’s work as more shounen-ai instead of yaoi, with the latter typically used to refer to titles that feature sexually explicit themes and sex scenes, whereas the former focused more on the romance aspect and less on the sexual content. Manga artist Keiko Takemiya helped grow the Yaoi genre even more with her manga Kaze to Ki no Uta (The Poem of Wind and Trees), which is widely recognised as the first manga ever published to feature “openly sexual relationships” between men. The doujinshi was said to have caused a lot of controversies when it first appeared as the manga industry at the time was a traditionally male-dominated one. Yaoi first stepped into the scene in 1970 where female fans will create doujinshi (fan-made stories or comics) of popular shounen series, with the male characters in the series recast as gay lovers. Kisa Shouta and Yukina Kou from Sekaiichi Hatsukoi That’s right, unlike typical shoujo manga storylines which focuses on a male-female heterosexual relationship, yaoi storylines typically focus on boys seeking relationships with each other and depending on the setting of the manga, can explore various themes such as homophobia, infidelity, and domestic abuse. Yaoi is a sub-branch of the shoujo manga genre which means it is geared towards a female demographic, despite its focus on male homosexual relationships. Of course, constantly reading that long line out is not the way to go, and so came the word ‘Yaoi’. ![]() The word ‘Yaoi’, pronounced as ya-o-ee, otherwise known as Boy’s Love or BL for short, is taken from the numbers 801 which in turn is an acronym of 「ヤマなし、オチなし、イミなし」( Ya ma nashi, O chi nashi, I mi nashi) which translates to “no climax, no punch line, no sense.” Tadaomi Shirotani and Riku Kurose from Ten Count
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