While the topics vered Japane anime and manga are seemgly endls, if recent hs like "Yuri on Ice" (2016), or "My Brother’s Hband" (2014-2017) are any ditn, gay and homoerotic relatnships fill an extremely popular niche manga plotl. But, "My Brother’s Hband" (which was was rema last year to an NHK drama) and "Yuri on…
Contents:
- TOP 36 BT BARA MANGA (GAY LOVE THAT WILL SET YOUR HEART AT FIRE)
- THE POPULARY OF GAY MANGA JAPAN: WHAT ARE ‘BARA’ AND ‘YAOI’ AND WHO ARE S FANS?
- ʕ·͡ᴥ·ʔ TYệN TRANH GAY Và NHữNG TáC GIả
TOP 36 BT BARA MANGA (GAY LOVE THAT WILL SET YOUR HEART AT FIRE)
Bara is siar to Yaoi (also known as Boys’ Love or BL Japan), and picts homosexual relatnships between men. This poetic piece go above and beyond tradnal genre boundari and offers somethg much more substantial than typil gay romance stori. Not only is this story bound to brg a se to viewers’ fac, but also tackl real-world issu such as homosexualy and taboo topics morn society.
Wrten by Tadao Nada, follows the story of Katsuya and Jiro – two gay lovers that meet the aftermath of World War II. The narrative sh light upon var social and psychologil aspects, such as genr rol, homophobia, existentialism, and more, while providg an entertag read. It follows the story of Hira, a young gay man who tri to own his inty as a gay person.
It was one of the early works that showed rpect for homosexualy by prentg both Hira and Ye’s love story whout judgment or prejudice. Japane ics, or manga, are replete wh same-sex pairgs – but are they actually as gay as wtern rears might terpret them to be?
THE POPULARY OF GAY MANGA JAPAN: WHAT ARE ‘BARA’ AND ‘YAOI’ AND WHO ARE S FANS?
While LGBTQ+ reprentatn appears, at a glance, to be prolific, not all queer characters or relatnships are necsarily as herently gay as they appear, and not all “gay” material is tend for a gay rearship. When to manga featurg same-sex stori foced on male pairgs though, there’s an add layer of plexy to navigate, so this week’s Comics Corner we’re takg a look at the differenc between some of the most mon “gay” Japane ics, or manga, genr.
BL manga have typilly featured svelte, betiful men, often wh androgyno featur – although recent years ’s bee slightly more mon to fd more diverse body typ – and stori that tend towards homoeroticism and emotnal drama than anythg overtly pornographic. Yaoi is perhaps the most monly heard term when to gay manga the wt, to the extent that “yaoi” is almost an umbrella term self. Wrers cludg Graham Kolbes, one of the thors of Massive: Gay Erotic Manga and the Men Who Make It, have posed that part of the appeal of yaoi to women, particularly Japan, is that often picts sex whout patriarchal trappgs.
If yaoi is gay ntent by and for straight women, bara is broadly s oppose – gay manga by and for gay men. However, the word “bara” lerally means “rose”, and is somethg of a slur – ’s ak to llg a gay man a “pansy” English.
ʕ·͡ᴥ·ʔ TYệN TRANH GAY Và NHữNG TáC GIả
The term beme popular among wtern rears due to a misunrstandg of “bara” beg applied to gay art posted the early msage board days of the ter, and s age is ntroversial amongst many gay creators Japan. One of the most ternatnally renowned gay manga thors, Gengoroh Tagame, has said that he “personally hate[s] the scriptn ‘bara’ ics, bee ’s accurate and a false reprentatn”, but that “seeg ed as a way to scribe jt the ntent mak apparent that ’s very nvenient for talkg about art that is lked by characters that are mcle-y, huge, and hairy, vers more feme theme of willowy, romantic figur. Sadly, whether due to s pornographic ntent or the fact that ’s explicly targeted at a gay male dience, very ltle bara manga is officially available English.
Cover tail of I Thk Our Son Is Gay vol. In Japan, “gei komi” – rived om the English “gay ics” – is the preferred term for manga by gay creators for a gay dience, as opposed to “bara”. Tagame is, aga, one of the most notable here, wh his My Brother’s Hband explorg culture clash and fay dynamics, while Okura’s I Thk Our Son is Gay follows a mother supportg her young son, who isn’t que ready to e out himself jt yet.
Tl to check out: My Brother’s Hband, I Thk Our Son is Gay. Aga, this is a far om five breakdown of the variety and pth of gay manga – the field is full of tl and creators that blur the l between any or all of the above, and there are further subgenr and nich such as tanbi, which add more plexy to fns and reprentatns. Still, this should help newers to gay manga intify some of the key differenc the field – happy readg!