Boys' love, commonly abbreviated BL, is a genre of fictional media originating in Japan that depicts homoerotic relationships between male characters. It is typically created by women for a female readership, distinguishing it from the equivalent genre of homoerotic media made by and for gay men, though BL also attracts a male audience and is sometimes produced by male creators; the genre spans manga, anime, drama CDs, novels, video games, television series, films and fan works.
Facts
Place of Origin Notable ExampleThe Heart of Thomas (1974-1975) by Moto Hagio and Kaze to Ki no Uta (1976-1984) by Keiko Takemiya 1 Defining TraitCharacters are paired according to the roles of seme, the active pursuer, and uke, the passive pursued 1 FAQs
What is the difference between boys' love, shōnen-ai and yaoi?
They are successive names for the same genre, and in practice they are used interchangeably.
The names belong to different moments in the history of the genre. Shōnen-ai (literally boy love) described the male romance manga for girls that appeared in the 1970s, usually featuring androgynous young men called bishōnen. Yaoi emerged in the late 1970s and early 1980s in dōjinshi (self-published works) culture as a self-deprecating name for amateur works that focused on sex over plot and character, from the phrase yama nashi, ochi nashi, imi nashi, meaning no climax, no point, no meaning. Boys' love was adopted by Japanese publications in the 1990s as an umbrella term for male romance media marketed to women. Researchers have tried to separate these terms, but in practice they are used interchangeably.
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Source Boys' love - WikipediaLead paragraph of the cited Wikipedia articleQuote, Lead paragraph of the cited Wikipedia article
Boys' love (Japanese: ボーイズ ラブ, Hepburn: bōizu rabu), also known by its abbreviation BL (ビーエル, bīeru), is a genre of fictional media originating in Japan that depicts homoerotic relationships between male characters.
Sources
1. Boys' love - Wikipedia
Lead section, sentence 1
is a genre of fictional media originating in Japan that depicts homoerotic relationships between male characters.
1970s and 1980s: From shonen-ai to yaoi section
The Heart of Thomas (1974-1975) by Hagio and Kaze to Ki no Uta (1976-1984) by Takemiya.
Concepts and themes section
A commonly recurring characteristic of BL is the practice of pairing characters in relationships according to the roles of seme, the sexual top or active pursuer, and uke, the sexual bottom or passive pursued.
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