Why so rape-y boys'love? (2024)

aloricg

Don't forget Itai itai itai! Or Creampie!

Also:

dakotasapphire

aloricg

dakotasapphire said:
I only really liked Usagi and Misaki's relationship [and the dynamics with the mean older brother]. It was just so cute. :P That's the only reason I watched that. The other relationships were definetly a little over the top and not as developed. And Sekaiichi Hatsukoi kind of was annoying. I mean it got better, but no real memorable moments for me. And I only started to like junjou romantica after misaki consented towards usagi (bunny bunny bunny). And Usagi being a BL novelist was just icing on the cake. And his affinity for cute things was great too.

Ever read any bara?

I have a sneaking suspicion that men actually having sex with men in a graphic presentation will be a total turn off for you.

None of this gag-sounds and tight-shots on facial reactions nonsense.

Mayuka

http://myanimelist.net/manga/9289/Partners

It was quite interesting although too...sexual. >_> Aloricg, our Bara lord, can you give it a quick read and tell me how accurate it is portraying gay men?

aloricg

I'd still call that a yaoi. No real cock shots, faces too pretty, and they.. i dunno.. awkward and mechanical in how they interact.

Depending on the level of writing you can get some decent characters in bara (and some yaoi i'm sure) but there's always a level of carnal and lustful - that male gaze i've mentioned before. That image angle you found "odd" (it's accentuating the size of his dick.)

Face reaction.. face reaction.. and yeah, going gently? Yeah, people in real life don't really try to hurt each other, but this yaoi-ish 20mins of prep for a fuck isn't realistic.

Bite the pillow baby and huff a popper, you'll be ok.

Edit: And if you thought it was too sexual, i'm not sure you'd make it through a real bara. It jumps in time - note the hand washing scene out of nowhere. That aint sex kids, that's a jump cut to gloss over it.

2nd Edit: Go read this one, it's fucking adorable (aside from the obscene sex)

http://myreadingmanga.info/matsu-takeshi-kishiwada-goryou-animal-hospital-eng/

aloricg

Seriously, i told you these two were adorable:

http://myreadingmanga.info/matsu-takeshi-things-can-seen-glasses-eng/

This is just ridiculous but i like it:

http://myreadingmanga.info/tinmeshi-careless-mistake_-_call-of-duty-modern-warfare_dj-eng/

Iz cute:

http://myreadingmanga.info/matsu-takeshi-4-seasons-eng/

This one is soooo absurd but i love it:

http://myreadingmanga.info/matsu-takeshi-foreign-toy-eng/

This one is called "Hydromance" - how can you not love it?

http://myreadingmanga.info/gai-mizuki-hydromance-english/

Not really my type of guys, but the story is too entertaining to ignore

http://myreadingmanga.info/seizou-ebisubashi-hometown-hospitality-eng/

I like this one, cuz reasons:

http://myreadingmanga.info/tsukasa-matsuzaki-class-reunion-engjp/

This is ridiculous and i love it:

http://myreadingmanga.info/anything-naop-kau-gyuunyuu-cows-milk-eng/

This is entirely porn but i like it:

http://myreadingmanga.info/mentaiko-gachinko-battle-eng/

This one is sad..

http://myreadingmanga.info/naop-ashita-ga-kuru-maeni-01-eng/

And then there's Fire Code, which is a whole series, which i love:

http://myreadingmanga.info/ichikawa-kazuhide-fire-code-eng/

removed-user

Dull_Lull

As much as I love bara, I kinda agree with you. Try Sakira's works. Their bodies are bara enough (muscular but not too muscular), and their faces might pass for a yaoi. She doesn't take her stories too seriously though because all of them are one-shot comedies.

You might also like Itai itai itai. It's my favorite bara and has a serious story but it's completed on mangago even though nothing was resolved. I still like it though and I hope that Mentaiko hasn't abandoned it.

aloricg

Mentaiko's men tend to be muscular but not ridiculous. Lot of other bara artists make their guys huge.

Mladen

Check out some of the Black Monkey stuff then. Characters look bishounen, but also reasonably muscular.

Dull_Lull

Ah, yes this one too. Their muscle is Bleach level.

Helenus

So, I spent the last night (different time-zone/Europe) reading several Bara manga. I especially focused on titles by Mentaiko and Gengoroh Tagame.

I read

Priapus by Mentaiko

and

The Fisherman's Lodge by Gengoroh Tagame.

Well, what should I say? I had no expectations. So I'm not disappointed at all. The art was indeed interesting. I really liked the design of Zeus (Priapus), the younger police officer (Priapus) and the nameless young man (The Fisherman's Lodge). Some things were quite disgusting. I did not like the old fisherman at all. Also the way he treated the young man was sub omni canone.

In the end I must say that I still prefer yaoi. The worst thing in Bara is the utter lack of story. There is none. The so called `stories' in Bara manga are mostly just a setting for sex. Nothing more, nothing less. I read a LOT of yaoi manga: good, mediocre,bad. But they still had more 'story' than the Bara I read (and I took a peek at on several sites). Conclusion: Yaoi is not that brainless as people think it is. Bara is definetely worse.

One thing I could not understand: BARA is intended for GAY MEN. It is (in 99% of the cases) written by (gay) men for (gay) men. But do you really think gay men would be (sexually) attracted to the kind of men that are depicted in these manga? I do not think so. Old men, fat men, men with hair all over and scars. Realitly proves the mangaka wrong. Such men are the losers of the real gay society. In contrary: I think yaoi bishonen apply more to the taste of gay men (in Japan and in the West).

I think a good compromis would be the works by SAKIRA (someone mentioned it before). Her characters are manly. They have muscles. They have pubic hair. But they are pretty. The perfect synthesis of yaoi and bara.

Red_Keys

Helenus said:
One thing I could not understand: BARA is intended for GAY MEN. It is (in 99% of the cases) written by (gay) men for (gay) men. But do you really think gay men would be (sexually) attracted to the kind of men that are depicted in these manga? I do not think so. Old men, fat men, men with hair all over and scars. Realitly proves the mangaka wrong. Such men are the losers of the real gay society. In contrary: I think yaoi bishonen apply more to the taste of gay men (in Japan and in the West).

Nobody stays 20 forever.

Helenus

Well, I think we might not argue that(a lot of) homosexuals are idolizing youth and boyish looks (also known as ephebophilia or androgyny).

Of course there are men with certain interests, who are attracted to the more mature/older type. But I don't want to go into detail.

That's correct. Tempora mutantur et nos mutamur in illis.

aloricg

A hilarious misunderstanding of gay culture.

Men like men - feminine men are the most disliked in gay circles. It's a whole self hatred hyper masculinity thing that's a constant struggle in the community.

And particular in Japan, the men the gay men want are ultra hyper masculine.

Absurdo_N

Hikinekomori

Memore

Nurguburu

All weebs creatures of the galaxy, hear this message. Those of you who listen will not be struck by western animation. You will no longer know hunger, nor pain. Your Anime have come to lead you now. Our strength shall serve as a luminous sun toward which all intelligence may blossom. And the impervious shelter beneath which you will prosper. However, for those who refuse our offer and cling to their western animation ways… For you, there will be great wrath.

traed

BlueMaho

Also I think the reason behind it is the way people present it, BL fans tend to neatly wrap everything in rainbow colored ribbons and present it as gay representation while calling people who don't like the genre as homophobic, western companies don't help either, I've seen Crunchyroll promote such content during pride month. So when I gave BL a shot I was expecting better relationships instead of rapey stuff. On the other hand everyone knows that hentai is fetish material.

Absurdo_N

Bl and yaoi is also a fetish, but people think it's about representation. I didn't know Crunchyroll had done that.