buttsecks, awwyeea.

I love it ~

i like it :D

when i first read about it i was all shocked, embarassed, and was like OMG!
but for the life of me i couldnt put the book down, lol~
it was my cousins first published comic and the other writers in it were like rlly hard core yaoi, so explains my red face XD

but i like all genres, even those cheesy stories that have really bad plots, hahaha
i base mangas on the character chemistry, also the main character themselves....cause u rlly dont like to read about a hero u hate, unless the side characters are there to balance it and the story plot is well thought of

Don't like it. End of story.

I'm gay and I don't find anything about yaoi even close to any issues that I have had. The guys always act like girls would and not like gay men would. I guess it's ok since it's mostly for girls who can't get any. Why not watch 2 (handsome??? not really) gay guys talk about their feelings, LIKE WE ALWAYS DO?!
and what the hell, when are we gonna get an anime with a masculine gay man? Can't stand these bishonen types

WERID....JUST WEIRD

Yes true! m/m manga for and by women = "boy's love"/yaoi. m/m manga for and by gay men = "men's love"/bara. Kind of like most yuri has very little to do with a real lesbian identity or experience.

But it's not necessarily for girls who "can't get any". Many fans, mangakas and researchers suggest yaoi allows girls/women to enjoy romance or smut or non-con, or bondage, etc, without the problems of male/female power differentials and all that baggage. It's also sometimes inter-textual and loaded with visual metaphors.

Bishounen characters are meant to look kinda ambiguous, it's their appeal, and it has a long historical tradition with onnagata and wakashū actors, praised (and sometimes paid) for their delicate beauty by men and women alike. There are jpop idols too now; Akanishi Jin is a good example of having this type of look.

A lot has been written about this, notably by Matt Thorn, and in a huge debate about yaoi in Japan several years ago. There is even a 300 page book full of essays on the subject. The general consensus is that yaoi allows its reader a fluid and dynamic interpretation of gender and sexuality, and addresses some issues women have with femininity, but doesn't necessarily address the issues of gay men.

It should be pointed out that bl manga is much more diverse and usually more explicit than bl anime. There are manga artists such as Inariya Fusanosuke who sets every story in war and often has very intense power dynamics in her stories. Est Em is also pretty interesting. She's recently released a fantastic manga called "Eqqus". You may not be able to personally relate to it much, since all the main characters are centaurs, haha..

In any case, here's an article on specific yaoi mangas gay readers might like: http://manga.about.com/od/recommendedreading/tp/Yaoi-And-Yuri-Manga-For-GBLTQ-Readers.htm

Anyway, if you want mangas which depict "masculine gay men" look for "bara" NOT yaoi. "Bara" mangas are written by gay men, for gay men. I don't know of any animes in this genre, as it's not really my preferred genre. Sadly because LBGT folks usually get ignored, I doubt there's any bara anime with the production quality of Sekaiichi Hatsuouki, which is unfair, but also bara is usually pretty explicit, so if they cut all the nudity and sexuality like they did with Sekaiichi, it would be kinda silly.

There are, of course, plenty of problems, politically, with yaoi's depiction of gay men. I'm not trying to deny that, only to shed some light on the nuances and reasons for the lack of resemblance to actual gay men.

Sorry it's such a long reply, hope it's somewhat helpful!

BTW I love BL but I am super picky. Latest read was Crimson Spell...so good, and ANYTHING by the above mentioned Inariya Fusanosuke, especially "Close Your Eyes" or "Zion No Kaeda"...Amazingly beautiful. A lot of people don't like doujinshi, but I find Bleach doujinshi very entertaining. "Tentacle xx Uryu" or something like that...hilarious! Where else will you see Byakuya blushing but in yaoi Bleach doujinshi?

I'm trying to stay away from yaoi. I just don't find it appealing..
I don't have anything against gay/lesbian ppl. but I have to say
that some of the yaoi fangirls do annoy me. I don't like it when
straight male anime/manga characters are paired up romantically,
such as naruto x sasuke, rin x yukio , izaya x shizuo etc etc
emm please save your fangirling for your actual yaoi anime/manga ^ ^''
and the fact that I kept seeing it everywhere irks me a bit.
sorry but this is just my opinion.

Depends on what mood I'm in, because sometimes Hardcore yaois are wayy too extreme for my tastes but I prefer Yaois rather than Boy's love. Boy's love is usually too slow paced for me but some can be very romantic.
Bara mangas, oh noo lol. Those are much too masculine.
As for pairings of straight male characters I sometimes find it cute, but yes, the fan girls can be a little too........ much.

Do not care one way or another. If the story's decent, sure. If it's just pandering, not really. I've actually reads a few. Pretty OK. They weren't explicit though.

But then again, I like a few yuri manga too so I guess I could swing both ways. (As in, Strawberry Panic being one of my favorite stories of all time.)

are you trying to take my heart?
cuz it just about jumped out of my chess when i saw this
i love yaoi ._.

Well put. I love yaoi, although for some reason I find the word to be phonetically irritating. I read the intellectual dissertations on this phenomenon, ponder for a while, then it's back to...it's hot, it's smut, it's a walk in the Id where common sense and common sex do not prevail, and it probably means we've got issues...but it's still hot!

Love it, though alot of the characters are really simpler and it can get really annoying....
BUT other than that i Love it!!! i Love buying the hard-core stuff and watching people read them xD or just reading them at school with my friends, always fun ^O^

love yaoi <3