Plot? What Plot?
Not too long ago, I had a request from a reader to post some hentai pictures of men. Men are not usually featured in hetero hentai so to find any good pictures of men I had to turn to Yaoi hentai.
Yaoi (pronounced “yah-oy” or “yah-oh-ee”) is not a real Japanese word, it is “otaku”, slang created by anime fans. It refers to manga and hentai that feature men in romantic relationships. This is similar to sh?nen-ai and BL (boys love), which also deal with romantic relationships between (young) men, but with one major difference: Yaoi is sexually explicit.
One thing that might surprise you about Yaoi hentai is that is generally created for women. The art is drawn by women, the plot lines are written by women and the target market is women who find sex between two male characters erotic/romantic – similar to the many men who are turned on by lesbians. But despite its female-centred production, Yaoi has generated quite a following among gay men as well.
The relationships in Yaoi, interestingly, tend to repeat the same clichés seen in hetero relationships. In most of the couples, there is usually a designated “feminized” male called an “uke” (or receiver/bottom) who is often shorter, weaker and/or younger than his partner, the “seme” (or “attacker”/top), who tends to be bigger and have darker hair. Often, many traditional female stereotypes will be applied to the male uke, such as reluctance, shyness, “romanticness,” etc.
Some Yaoi artists like to deemphasize or play on these stereotypes, moving toward characters that are more interchangeable or using characters with reversed stereotyped personalities.
There has even been a trend towards making “muscle yaoi,” where both male characters are strong and muscular, with less feminine character traits.
Yaoi (and Yuri) H anime is important because it provides options, demonstrates different lifestyles and contributes to breaking boundaries and changing how people view relationships in hentai and in the real world.
Some examples:
Squall from Final Fantasy 8 – Some of the most popular Yaoi images are fandom images of characters from popular games or Anime series (like slash).
Notice that the receiver (uke) is blushing and the giver (seme) is holding his leg up – the same sort of thing is often seen in hetero (male-female) hentai.
Cat-girls are very popular in “regular” hentai – in Yaoi, we have the Cat-BOY
Here again you will notice that although the height difference is not invoked, the uke is blushing and has tears in his closed eyes (traits often associated with female characters) and the seme is toughened up with a bandage on his cheek and open eyes.
Now that you know all about Yaoi hentai, maybe it’s time you got yourself one of these T-shirts ^_~. (you can get one here)
Posted: January 22nd, 2006 under hentai.
Comments
Comment from Numb
Time January 23, 2006 at 12:43 am
Wow…. thats why I love your site Shay…. I always learn something new. Some interesting artwork too…. makes me think…. *eg*
Comment from Shadow
Time January 23, 2006 at 1:22 am
Very Interesting!
Comment from Aragorn
Time January 23, 2006 at 1:35 pm
Great idea / request Shay, and nice analysis of the pictures !
Comment from vatum & vixen
Time January 23, 2006 at 3:06 pm
*kisses*
vatum/vixen
Comment from Alex
Time January 23, 2006 at 6:40 pm
Thank you for the enlightening post. You know your stuff girl.
Domo
Comment from Rex Venom
Time January 24, 2006 at 12:28 am
So much in the world to know, and you help the rest of us out!
Rock on!
Comment from Shay
Time January 24, 2006 at 5:30 am
M_D – I think I was a little surprised the first time I heard that too, but it totally made sense when I thought more about it.
And to the rest of you – It makes me SO happy to have shown you something that you found new and interesting ^_^ You all make my blog worthwhile. *kisses*
Comment from Peter in Japan
Time January 24, 2006 at 1:24 pm
Interesting post. Yes, we’re all people no matter what our preferences. The game we came out with (Enzai) has a lot of interesting criss-crossing themes, too.
Comment from Shay
Time January 25, 2006 at 4:41 am
Haha thanks for popping in Peter!
I’m glad you enjoyed my post! ^_^
(By the way, if anyone wants to get me presents for any reason, J-list is a good place to buy ^_~)
Comment from Momentarily_Distracted
Time January 22, 2006 at 8:09 pm
Hmm…interesting points on the simularities of hetero vs. Yaoi hentai.
I must admit I was a little surprised when you mentioned that most of the fans of YaoiHentai are women, but it makes sense.
Thank you. :o)
-M_D