So, without any further ado, shall we dive into the list of best yaoi manga?
Japanese manga and anime depicting gay sex have a huge fanbase here and abroad. So what's it all about?
Gay manga has two major subgenres, not to mention the huge variety of plotlines ranging from futuristic dystopian societies to gay cops fighting crime and finding love.
BL sex scenes fetishize gay men and lose sight of actual social issues gay men face in their fascination with oftentimes bizarre, unrealistic sex
That is Yaoi, Japanese anime or manga (comics) whose stories centre around ‘boy love’ and homoerotic tales.
Yaoi: The Art of Japanese Gay Comics
Yaoi (pronounced “yah-oh-ee”) is a term typically thrown around the fringes of the geek community, but what is this gay Japanese phenomna? It’s a form of manga, or Japanese comics/graphic novels, with homoerotic and homoromantic themes. If you think the concept sounds interesting, you’re not alone. Millions faithfully read Yaoi not only in Japan, but around the world, as it is routinely translated into dozens of languages.
Kink memes are thus a safe haven not only for fandom-related speculation and silliness but also for alternative sexualities. Outside of a range of clearly anti-social behavior, anything goes in a kink meme, and it is there that people (largely female-gendered people) find an acceptance of their interests and sexuality that eludes them in the world beyond the internet. It is acknowledged by all parties involved that everything on the kink meme happens within the realm of fantasy. Thus it is possible for a militant feminist and an ardent supporter of gay rights to read, write, and enjoy fictional stories about one male character raping another. The people who produce and consume such narratives are allowed to do so without fear of anyone judging their personal fantasies or shaming them for their sexualities, and the people who prefer completely consensual cuddling (or some other kink, or no sex at all) can simply skip the rape scenes altogether.
I’d like to posit that yaoi is a similar safe space for female-gendered sexuality. The problem with this, however, is that, like most formally published narratives containing scenes of graphic rape (like
I suppose I really shouldn’t judge these critics too harshly (because of the lack of trigger warnings), but their objections to yaoi fantasy rape seem an awful lot like superficial kink shaming to me. Part of the thrill of any romance narrative is the tension between the two parties involved. This tension is obviously sexual, but it can also be social, economic, political, or religious. If both members of a potential relationship were complete equals who completely understood one another to the complete approval of everyone, then their love story would be more than a bit boring. The gradual resolution of various conflicts is how a romance story is structured; but, before there can be a resolution, there first needs to be a conflict. When a man and a woman are involved, there is a perceived unequal power dynamic between them that has still persisted into what some believe to be a
A complaint that has often been lodged against yaoi is that it objectifies gay men and portrays them in a manner that has nothing to do with the reality of being gay. Although obviously there is merit in this objection, it feels a bit like
