161-499: Gangan ( ガンガン , Gangan ) is a manga imprint owned by Square Enix Holdings . It originated as a manga imprint for Enix before the company re-branded as Square Enix. It publishes manga in several anthologies aimed at different reader demographic groups in the Japanese market. Its anthologies are home to some popular Square Enix manga series which were adapted into anime series, like Fullmetal Alchemist , Moribito: Guardian of
322-495: A yaoi series published in the shōjo magazine Margaret , was originally a Captain Tsubasa dōjinshi created by Ozaki that she adapted into an original work. By 1990, seven Japanese publishers included yaoi content in their offerings, which kickstarted the commercial publishing market of the genre. Between 1990 and 1995, thirty magazines devoted to yaoi were established: Magazine Be × Boy , founded in 1993, became one of
483-564: A 2008 bookstore survey finding that between 25 and 30 percent of yaoi readers were male. The 2000s saw significant growth of yaoi in international markets, beginning with the founding of the American anime convention Yaoi-Con in 2001. The first officially-licensed English-language translations of yaoi manga were published in the North American market in 2003 (see Media below); the market expanded rapidly before contracting in 2008 as
644-539: A blurring of the distinctions between the genres; anthropologist Thomas Baudinette notes in his fieldwork that gay men in Japan "saw no need to sharply disassociate BL from [gay manga] when discussing their consumption of 'gay media'." The two participants in a BL relationship (and to a lesser extent in yuri ) are often referred to as seme ( 攻め , lit. "top", as derived from the ichidan verb "to attack") and uke ( 受け , lit. "bottom", as derived from
805-421: A commercial publishing company. If a manga series is popular enough, it may be animated after or during its run. Sometimes, manga are based on previous live-action or animated films. Manga-influenced comics, among original works, exist in other parts of the world, particularly in those places that speak Chinese (" manhua "), Korean (" manhwa "), English (" OEL manga "), and French (" manfra "), as well as in
966-501: A concept can be found disparately throughout East Asia , but its specific aesthetic manifestation in 1970s shōjo manga (and subsequently in shōnen-ai manga) drew influence from popular culture of the era, including glam rock artists such as David Bowie , actor Björn Andrésen 's portrayal of Tadzio in the 1971 film adaptation of Death in Venice , and kabuki onnagata Bandō Tamasaburō . Though bishōnen are not exclusive to BL,
1127-499: A decrease over time, digital manga have been growing in sales each year. The Research Institute for Publications reports that sales of digital manga books excluding magazines jumped 27.1 percent to ¥146 billion in 2016 from the year before while sales of paper manga saw a record year-on-year decline of 7.4 percent to ¥194.7 billion. They have also said that if the digital and paper keep the same growth and drop rates, web manga would exceed their paper counterparts. In 2020 manga sales topped
1288-467: A fantasy narrative. Since the late 2000s, women have appeared more frequently in BL works as supporting characters. Lunsing notes that early shōnen-ai and yaoi were often regarded as misogynistic , with the diminished role of female characters cited as evidence of the internalized misogyny of the genre's largely female readership. He suggests that the decline of these misogynistic representations over time
1449-526: A favourite character, or create a story about two original male characters and incorporate established characters into the story. Any male character may become the subject of a BL dōjinshi , including characters from non-manga titles such as Harry Potter or The Lord of the Rings , video games such as Final Fantasy , or real people such as actors and politicians. Amateur authors may also create characters out of personifications of abstract concepts (as in
1610-544: A few "one-shot" manga projects just to try to get their name out. If these are successful and receive good reviews, they are continued. Magazines often have a short life. After a series has run for a while, publishers often collect the chapters and print them in dedicated book-sized volumes, called tankōbon . These can be hardcover, or more usually softcover books, and are the equivalent of U.S. trade paperbacks or graphic novels . These volumes often use higher-quality paper, and are useful to those who want to "catch up" with
1771-628: A gay audience. The economic crisis caused by the Lost Decade came to affect the manga industry in the late 1990s and early 2000s, but did not particularly impact the yaoi market; on the contrary, yaoi magazines continued to proliferate during this period, and sales of yaoi media increased. In 2004, Otome Road in Ikebukuro emerged as a major cultural destination for yaoi fandom, with multiple stores dedicated to shōjo and yaoi goods. The 2000s also saw an increase in male readers of yaoi , with
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#17330847671091932-558: A gay male audience. Gay manga typically focuses on masculine men with varying degrees of muscle, body fat, and body hair , in contrast to the androgynous bishōnen of BL. Graham Kolbeins writes in Massive: Gay Erotic Manga and the Men Who Make It that while BL can be understood as a primarily feminist phenomenon, in that it depicts sex that is free of the patriarchal trappings of heterosexual pornography, gay manga
2093-467: A genre. In a 2015 survey of professional Japanese male-male romance fiction writers by Kazuko Suzuki, five primary subgenres were identified: Despite attempts by researchers to codify differences between these subgenres, in practice these terms are used interchangeably. Kazumi Nagaike and Tomoko Aoyama note that while BL and yaoi are the most common generic terms for this kind of media, they specifically avoid attempts at defining subgenres, noting that
2254-527: A high interest in the medium. Sales of print manga titles in the U.S. increased by 3.6 million units in the first quarter of 2021 compared to the same period in 2020. In 2021, 24.4 million units of manga were sold in the United States. This is an increase of about 15 million (160%) more sales than in 2020. In 2022, most of the top-selling comic creators in the United States were mangaka. The same year manga sales saw an increase of 9%. A number of artists in
2415-513: A higher female readership (16% higher than other comic books). As of January 2020, manga is the second largest category in the US comic book and graphic novel market, accounting for 27% of the entire market share. During the COVID-19 pandemic some stores of the American bookseller Barnes & Noble saw up to a 500% increase in sales from graphic novel and manga sales due to the younger generations showing
2576-504: A huge hit. After Tokyo Pakku in 1905, a female version of Shōnen Sekai was created and named Shōjo Sekai , considered the first shōjo magazine. Shōnen Pakku was made and is considered the first children's manga magazine. The children's demographic was in an early stage of development in the Meiji period . Shōnen Pakku was influenced from foreign children's magazines such as Puck which an employee of Jitsugyō no Nihon (publisher of
2737-442: A mangaka's work could be published: taking their manga drawn on paper to a publisher themselves, or submitting their work to competitions run by magazines. In recent years, there has been a rise in manga released digitally. Web manga, as it is known in Japan, has seen an increase thanks in part to image hosting websites where anyone can upload pages from their works for free. Although released digitally, almost all web manga sticks to
2898-748: A number of features in common. Boys and young men became some of the earliest readers of manga after World War II. From the 1950s on, shōnen manga focused on topics thought to interest the archetypal boy, including subjects like robots, space-travel, and heroic action-adventure. Popular themes include science fiction , technology, sports, and supernatural settings. Manga with solitary costumed superheroes like Superman , Batman , and Spider-Man generally did not become as popular. The role of girls and women in manga produced for male readers has evolved considerably over time to include those featuring single pretty girls ( bishōjo ) such as Belldandy from Oh My Goddess! , stories where such girls and women surround
3059-409: A person referring to something on their left in the text while pointing to their right in the graphic. Characters shown writing with their right hands, the majority of them, would become left-handed when a series is flipped. Flipping may also cause oddities with familiar asymmetrical objects or layouts, such as a car being depicted with the gas pedal on the left and the brake on the right, or a shirt with
3220-666: A pre-pandemic 120,000 in 2019. Manga publishers based in the United Kingdom include Gollancz and Titan Books. Manga publishers from the United States have a strong marketing presence in the United Kingdom: for example, the Tanoshimi line from Random House . In 2019 The British Museum held a mass exhibition dedicated to manga . Manga made their way only gradually into U.S. markets, first in association with anime and then independently. Some U.S. fans became aware of manga in
3381-471: A readership of girls and young women. In the following decades (1975–present), shōjo manga continued to develop stylistically while simultaneously evolving different but overlapping subgenres. Major subgenres include romance, superheroines, and "Ladies Comics" (in Japanese, redisu レディース , redikomi レディコミ , and josei 女性 ). Modern shōjo manga romance features love as a major theme set into emotionally intense narratives of self-realization . With
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#17330847671093542-563: A result of the global financial crisis of 2007–2008 , but continued to grow slowly in the following years. South Korea saw the development of BL in the form of manhwa , notably Martin and John (2006) by Park Hee-jung and Crush on You (2006) by Lee Kyung-ha. The 2010s and 2020s saw an increase in the popularity of yaoi and BL media in China and Thailand in the form of web novels , live-action films, and live-action television dramas (see Media below). Though "boys' love" and "BL" have become
3703-493: A result of the influence of Fire! ; yaoi dōjinshi were also more sexually explicit than shōnen-ai . In reaction to the success of shōnen-ai and early yaoi , publishers sought to exploit the market by creating magazines devoted to the genre. Young female illustrators cemented themselves in the manga industry by publishing yaoi works, with this genre later becoming "a transnational subculture." Publishing house Magazine Magazine [ ja ] , which published
3864-440: A series so they can follow it in the magazines or if they find the cost of the weeklies or monthlies to be prohibitive. "Deluxe" versions have also been printed as readers have gotten older and the need for something special grew. Old manga have also been reprinted using somewhat lesser quality paper and sold for 100 yen (about $ 1 U.S. dollar) each to compete with the used book market. Kanagaki Robun and Kawanabe Kyōsai created
4025-409: A series' story or write an entirely new one using its characters, much like fan fiction . In 2007, dōjinshi sales amounted to 27.73 billion yen (US$ 245 million). In 2006 they represented about a tenth of manga books and magazines sales. Thanks to the advent of the internet, there have been new ways for aspiring mangaka to upload and sell their manga online. Before, there were two main ways in which
4186-457: A single episode to be continued in the next issue. A single manga story is almost always longer than a single issue from a Western comic . Collected chapters are usually republished in tankōbon volumes, frequently but not exclusively paperback books . A manga artist ( mangaka in Japanese) typically works with a few assistants in a small studio and is associated with a creative editor from
4347-704: A style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long history in earlier Japanese art . The term manga is used in Japan to refer to both comics and cartooning . Outside of Japan, the word is typically used to refer to comics originally published in Japan. In Japan, people of all ages and walks of life read manga. The medium includes works in a broad range of genres : action , adventure , business and commerce, comedy , detective , drama , historical , horror , mystery , romance , science fiction and fantasy , erotica ( hentai and ecchi ), sports and games, and suspense, among others. Many manga are translated into other languages. Since
4508-451: A tolerance of homosexuality amid Westernization during the Meiji Era (1868-1912), and moved towards hostile social attitudes towards homosexuality and the implementation of anti-sodomy laws . In the face of this legal and cultural shift, artists who depicted male homosexuality in their work typically did so through subtext . Illustrations by Kashō Takabatake [ ja ] in
4669-522: A way that is somewhat different from in the U.S. Broadcast anime in France and Italy opened the European market to manga during the 1970s. French art has borrowed from Japan since the 19th century ( Japonism ) and has its own highly developed tradition of bande dessinée cartooning. Manga was introduced to France in the late 1990s, where Japanese pop culture became massively popular: in 2021, 55% of comics sold in
4830-489: Is a seinen manga publication entry in Square Enix's Gangan imprint. Manga featured: On February 22, 2017, Gangan Pixiv was launched as a collaboration between Pixiv and Square Enix. Like Gangan Online , Manga Up! is a manga app and website which serializes a lot of popular media mix works with manga adaptations of novels exclusively published on the service. In July 2022, Square Enix launched an English version of
4991-406: Is a free manga and light novel web magazine and smartphone app published and updated by Square Enix. The online web magazine was activated on October 2, 2008. Manga featured: Light Novels featured: Monthly Gangan Joker ( 月刊ガンガンJOKER , Gekkan Gangan Joker ) is a Japanese shōnen manga anthology that was launched by Square Enix on April 22, 2009. Manga featured: Monthly Big Gangan
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5152-537: 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 audience, distinguishing it from homoerotic media created by and for gay men , though BL does also attract a male audience and can be produced by male creators. BL spans a wide range of media, including manga , anime , drama CDs , novels, video games, television series, films, and fan works . The genre originated in
5313-488: Is a genre that depicts prepubescent or pubescent boys in a romantic or pornographic context. Originating as an offshoot of yaoi in the early 1980s, the subgenre was later adopted by male readers and became influenced by lolicon (works depicting prepubescent or pubescent girls); the conflation of shotacon in its contemporary usage with BL is thus not universally accepted, as the genre constitutes material that marketed to both male and female audiences. Omegaverse
5474-610: Is a male-male romance subgenre that originated from the American series Supernatural and in the 2010s became a subgenre of both commercial and non-commercial BL. Stories in the genre are premised on societies wherein humans are divided into a dominance hierarchy of dominant "alphas", neutral "betas", and submissive "omegas". These terms are derived from those used in ethology to describe social hierarchies in animals . The " dom/sub universe" subgenre emerged in 2017 and gained popularity in 2021. The subgenre uses BDSM elements and also draws influences from Omegaverse, particularly
5635-570: Is an abbreviation of kissaten ). At a manga kissa , people drink coffee , read manga and sometimes stay overnight. The Kyoto International Manga Museum maintains a very large website listing manga published in Japanese. E-shimbun Nippon-chi (1874), published by Kanagaki Robun and Kawanabe Kyosai , is credited as the first manga magazine ever made. Manga magazines or anthologies ( 漫画雑誌 , manga zasshi ) usually have many series running concurrently with approximately 20–40 pages allocated to each series per issue. Other magazines such as
5796-484: Is evidence that authors and readers "overcame this hate, possibly thanks to their involvement with yaoi ." BL stories are often strongly homosocial , giving men freedom to bond and pursue shared goals together (as in dojinshi adaptations of shōnen manga), or to rival each other (as in Embracing Love ). This spiritual bond and equal partnership is depicted as overcoming the male-female gender hierarchy . As
5957-878: Is much harder for slash writers to achieve." The first officially-licensed English-language translations of yaoi manga were published in the North American market in 2003; by 2006, there were roughly 130 English-translated yaoi works commercially available, and by 2007, over 10 publishers in North America published yaoi . Notable English-language publishers of BL include Viz Media under their SuBLime imprint, Digital Manga Publishing under their 801 Media and Juné imprints, Media Blasters under their Kitty Media imprint, Seven Seas Entertainment , and Tokyopop . Notable defunct English-language publishers of BL include Central Park Media under their Be Beautiful imprint, Broccoli under their Boysenberry imprint, and Aurora Publishing under their Deux Press imprint. Among
6118-469: Is noted as an influential work in this regard. Contemporary Japanese homoerotic romance manga originated in the 1970s as a subgenre of shōjo manga. The decade saw the arrival of a new generation of shōjo manga artists, most notable among them the Year 24 Group . The Year 24 Group contributed significantly to the development of the shōjo manga, introducing a greater diversity of themes and subject material to
6279-453: Is noted as crucial to the development of Western BL fan works, particularly fan fiction . As BL fan fiction is often compared to the Western fan practice of slash , it is important to understand the subtle differences between them. Levi notes that "the youthful teen look that so easily translates into androgyny in boys' love manga, and allows for so many layered interpretations of sex and gender,
6440-484: Is primarily an expression of gay male identity. The early 2000s saw a degree of overlap between BL and gay manga in BDSM -themed publications: the yaoi BDSM anthology magazine Zettai Reido ( 絶対零度 ) had several male contributors, while several female BL authors have contributed stories to BDSM-themed gay manga anthologies or special issues, occasionally under male pen names . Shotacon ( ショタコン , shotakon )
6601-444: Is regarded as an influential precursor to the shōnen-ai genre. Mori's works were influenced by European literature , particularly Gothic literature , and laid the foundation for many of the common tropes of shōnen-ai , yaoi , and BL: western exoticism, educated and wealthy characters, significant age differences among couples, and fanciful or even surreal settings. In manga , the concept of gekiga ( 劇画 ) emerged in
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6762-481: Is the largest publisher of graphic novels and comic books in the United States, with a 23% share of the market. BookScan sales show that manga is one of the fastest-growing areas of the comic book and narrative fiction markets. From January 2019 to May 2019, the manga market grew 16%, compared to the overall comic book market's 5% growth. The NPD Group noted that, compared to other comic book readers, manga readers are younger (76% under 30) and more diverse, including
6923-469: Is typical in romance fiction, couples depicted in these stories often must overcome obstacles that are emotional or psychological rather than physical. Akiko Mizoguchi notes that while early stories depicted homosexuality as a source of shame to heighten dramatic tension in this regard, beginning in the mid-2000s the genre began to depict gay identity with greater sensitivity and nuance, with series such as Brilliant Blue featuring stories of coming out and
7084-434: Is ubiquitous in BL, and is typically rendered explicitly and not merely implied; Zanghellini notes that illustrations of anal sex almost always position the characters to face each other rather than " doggy style ", and that the uke rarely fellates the seme , but instead receives the sexual and romantic attentions of the seme . Though McLelland notes that authors are typically "interested in exploring, not repudiating"
7245-403: Is understood as a means of expressing commitment to a partner, and in BL, the "apparent violence" of rape is transformed into a "measure of passion". Rape scenes in BL are rarely presented as crimes with an assaulter and a victim: scenes where a seme rapes an uke are not depicted as symptomatic of the violent desires of the seme , but rather as evidence of the uncontrollable attraction felt by
7406-434: The shōnen manga (boys' comics) magazine Nihon Shōnen formed the foundation of what would become the aesthetic of bishōnen : boys and young men, often in homosocial or homoerotic contexts, who are defined by their "ambivalent passivity, fragility, ephemerality, and softness." The 1961 novel A Lovers' Forest by tanbi writer Mari Mori , which follows the relationship between a professor and his younger male lover,
7567-607: The Allied occupation of Japan (1945–1952), and stresses U.S. cultural influences, including U.S. comics (brought to Japan by the GIs ) and images and themes from U.S. television, film, and cartoons (especially Disney ). Regardless of its source, an explosion of artistic creativity occurred in the post-war period, involving manga artists such as Osamu Tezuka ( Astro Boy ) and Machiko Hasegawa ( Sazae-san ). Astro Boy quickly became (and remains) immensely popular in Japan and elsewhere, and
7728-528: The Manga UP! featuring titles from Manga UP! and other Square Enix magazines. In September 2021, Square Enix launched Gangan BLiss , a manga label dedicated to publishing boy's love manga. The manga published under this label will be serialized on the CMOA website. Gangan Powered ( ガンガンパワード , Gangan Pawādo ) was a Japanese shōnen / seinen manga magazine published by Square Enix . The last release of
7889-561: The North American manga market was valued at almost $ 250 million. According to NPD BookScan manga made up 76% of overall comics and graphic novel sales in the US in 2021. The fast growth of the North American manga market is attributed to manga's wide availability on digital reading apps, book retailer chains such as Barnes & Noble and online retailers such as Amazon as well as the increased streaming of anime . Manga represented 38% of
8050-506: The Tokyo Metropolitan Government considered a bill to restrict minors' access to such content. The gekiga style of storytelling—thematically somber, adult-oriented, and sometimes deeply violent—focuses on the day-in, day-out grim realities of life, often drawn in a gritty and unvarnished fashion. Gekiga such as Sampei Shirato 's 1959–1962 Chronicles of a Ninja's Military Accomplishments ( Ninja Bugeichō ) arose in
8211-706: The androgyny of bishōnen is often exploited to explore notions of sexuality and gender in BL works. The late 2010s saw the increasing popularity of masculine men in BL that are reminiscent of the body types typical in gay manga , with growing emphasis on stories featuring muscular bodies and older characters. A 2017 survey by BL publisher Juné Manga found that while over 80% of their readership previously preferred bishōnen body types exclusively, 65% now enjoy both bishōnen and muscular body types. Critics and commentators have noted that this shift in preferences among BL readers, and subsequent creation of works that feature characteristics of both BL and gay manga, represents
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#17330847671098372-617: The anime adaptation of Sazae-san drew more viewers than any other anime on Japanese television in 2011. Tezuka and Hasegawa both made stylistic innovations. In Tezuka's "cinematographic" technique, the panels are like a motion picture that reveals details of action bordering on slow motion as well as rapid zooms from distance to close-up shots. This kind of visual dynamism was widely adopted by later manga artists. Hasegawa's focus on daily life and women's experience also came to characterize later shōjo manga . Between 1950 and 1969, an increasingly large readership for manga emerged in Japan with
8533-438: The ichidan verb "to receive") . These terms originated in martial arts , and were later appropriated as Japanese LGBT slang to refer to the insertive and receptive partners in anal sex . Aleardo Zanghellini suggests that the martial arts terms have special significance to a Japanese audience, as an archetype of the gay male relationship in Japan includes same-sex love between samurai and their companions . He suggests that
8694-427: The seme and uke roles are not strictly defined. Occasionally, authors will forego the stylisations of the seme and uke to portray both lovers as "equally attractive handsome men", or will subvert expectations of dominance by depicting the active pursuer in the relationship as taking the passive role during sex. In other cases, the uke is presented as more sexually aggressive than the seme ; in these instances,
8855-421: The seme recognizing, and taking responsibility for, his sexual desires. Where the uke is raped by a third party, the relationship is shown to be emotionally supportive. Conversely, some stories such as Under Grand Hotel subvert the rape fantasy trope entirely by presenting rape as a negative and traumatic act. A 2012 survey of English-language BL fans found that just 15 percent of respondents reported that
9016-419: The seme towards the uke . Such scenes are often a plot device used to make the uke see the seme as more than just a good friend, and typically result in the uke falling in love with the seme . While Japanese society often shuns or looks down upon women who are raped in reality, the BL genre depicts men who are raped as still "imbued with innocence" and are typically still loved by their rapists after
9177-609: The tourism sector to help foreign fans of manga and anime visit sites across the country associated with particular manga stories. The federation seeks to quadruple the sales of Japanese content in overseas markets within the upcoming 10 years. Manga stories are typically printed in black-and-white —due to time constraints, artistic reasons (as coloring could lessen the impact of the artwork) and to keep printing costs low —although some full-color manga exist (e.g., Colorful ). In Japan, manga are usually serialized in large manga magazines, often containing many stories, each presented in
9338-431: The uke , who often has softer, androgynous, feminine features with bigger eyes and a smaller build, and is often physically weaker than the seme . The roles of seme and uke can alternatively be established by who is dominant in the relationship; a character can take the uke role even if he is not presented as feminine, simply by being juxtaposed against and pursued by a more dominant and masculine character. Anal sex
9499-423: The yaoi ronsō engendered led to the formation of the field of "BL studies", which focus on the study of BL and the relationship between women and BL. It additionally impacted creators of yaoi : author Chiyo Kurihara abandoned yaoi to focus on heterosexual pornography as a result of the yaoi ronsō , while Hisako Takamatsu took into account the arguments of the genre's critics to create works more accommodating of
9660-503: The "forbidden" all-consuming love presented in BL. In dōjinshi parodies based on existing works that include female characters, the female's role is typically either minimized or the character is killed off; Yukari Fujimoto noted that in these parodies, "it seems that yaoi readings and likeable female characters are mutually exclusive." Nariko Enomoto , a BL author, suggests that women are typically not depicted in BL as their presence adds an element of realism that distracts from
9821-453: The 135 yaoi manga published in North America between 2003 and 2006, 14% were rated for readers aged 13 years or over, 39% were rated for readers aged 15 or older, and 47% were rated for readers age 18 and up. Restrictions among American booksellers often led publishers to label books conservatively, often rating books originally intended for a mid-teen readership as 18+ and distributing them in shrinkwrap. Diamond Comic Distributors valued
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#17330847671099982-421: The 1950s, manga has become an increasingly major part of the Japanese publishing industry. By 1995, the manga market in Japan was valued at ¥ 586.4 billion ( $ 6–7 billion ), with annual sales of 1.9 billion manga books and manga magazines (also known as manga anthologies) in Japan (equivalent to 15 issues per person). In 2020 Japan's manga market value hit a new record of ¥612.6 billion due to
10143-433: The 1970s and early 1980s. However, anime was initially more accessible than manga to U.S. fans, many of whom were college-age young people who found it easier to obtain, subtitle, and exhibit video tapes of anime than translate, reproduce, and distribute tankōbon -style manga books. One of the first manga translated into English and marketed in the U.S. was Keiji Nakazawa 's Barefoot Gen , an autobiographical story of
10304-399: The 1970s as a subgenre of shōjo manga , or comics for girls. Several terms were used for the new genre, including shōnen-ai ( 少年愛 , lit. "boy love") , tanbi ( 耽美 , lit. "aesthete" or "aesthetic") , and June ( ジュネ , [dʑɯne] ) . The term yaoi ( / ˈ j aʊ i / YOW -ee ; Japanese : やおい [jaꜜo.i] ) emerged as a name for the genre in
10465-611: The 1970s contemporaneously with BL subculture and Western fan fiction culture. Characteristic similarities of fan works in both Japan and the West include non-adherence to a standard narrative structures and a particular popularity of science fiction themes. Early BL dōjinshi were amateur publications that were not controlled by media restrictions, were typically derivative works based on existing manga and anime, and were often written by teenagers for an adolescent audience. Several legitimate manga artists produce or produced dōjinshi :
10626-470: The 1982 anime adaptation of Patalliro! was the first television anime to depict shōnen-ai themes, while Kaze to Ki no Uta and Earthian were adapted into anime in the original video animation ( home video ) format in 1987 and 1989, respectively. The growing popularity of yaoi attracted the attention of manga magazine editors, many of whom recruited yaoi dōjinshi authors to their publications; Zetsuai 1989 (1989–1991) by Minami Ozaki ,
10787-484: The 2010s as a "'missing link' to bridge the gap between BL fiction and gay people," arguing that when BL narratives are presented using human actors, it produces a "subconscious change in the perception of viewers" towards acceptance of homosexuality. Although gay male characters are empowered in BL, the genre frequently does not address the reality of socio-cultural homophobia . According to Hisako Miyoshi, vice editor-in-chief for Libre Publishing , while earlier works in
10948-436: The 2010s is regarded as a driving force behind the production of BL dramas across Asia, as online distribution provides a platform for media containing non-heterosexual material, which is frequently not permitted on broadcast television . The protagonists of BL are often bishōnen ( 美少年 , lit. "beautiful boy") , "highly idealised" boys and young men who blend both masculine and feminine qualities. Bishōnen as
11109-554: The April 1994 issue it was renamed to GFantasy . The manga tend to be set in a fantasy setting with large amounts of supernatural themes and a fair amount of action and/or horror scenes. Manga featured: Young Gangan ( ヤングガンガン , Yangu Gangan ) is a Japanese seinen manga magazine published by Square Enix twice a month, on the first and third Friday. The magazine was first published on December 3, 2004. Manga featured: Gangan Online ( ガンガンオンライン , Gangan Onrain )
11270-721: The French comics market in 2005. This is equivalent to approximately three times that of the United States and was valued at about €460 million ($ 640 million). In Europe and the Middle East, the market was valued at $ 250 million in 2012. In April 2023, the Japan Business Federation laid out a proposal aiming to spur the economic growth of Japan by further promoting the contents industry abroad, primarily anime, manga and video games , for measures to invite industry experts from abroad to come to Japan to work, and to link with
11431-705: The Immortal , Ghost in the Shell , Lone Wolf and Cub , Yasuhiro Nightow 's Trigun and Blood Blockade Battlefront , Gantz , Kouta Hirano 's Hellsing and Drifters , Blood+ , Multiple Personality Detective Psycho , FLCL , Mob Psycho 100 , and Oreimo . The company received 13 Eisner Award nominations for its manga titles, and three of the four manga creators admitted to The Will Eisner Award Hall of Fame — Osamu Tezuka , Kazuo Koike , and Goseki Kojima — were published in Dark Horse translations. In
11592-530: The Japanese BL market was worth approximately ¥21.3 billion in both 2009 and 2010. In 2019, editors from Lynx , Magazine Be × Boy , and On BLUE have stated that, with the growth of BL artists in Taiwan and South Korea, they have recruited and published several of their works in Japan with expectations that the BL manga industry will diversify. The dōjinshi (self-published fan works ) subculture emerged in
11753-593: The Philippines were imported from the US and were sold only in specialty stores and in limited copies. The first manga in Filipino language is Doraemon which was published by J-Line Comics and was then followed by Case Closed . In 2015, Boys' Love manga became popular through the introduction of BL manga by printing company BLACKink. Among the first BL titles to be printed were Poster Boy, Tagila, and Sprinters, all were written in Filipino. BL manga have become bestsellers in
11914-657: The Shell (translated by Frederik L. Schodt and Toren Smith ) becoming very popular among fans. An extremely successful manga and anime translated and dubbed in English in the mid-1990s was Sailor Moon . By 1995–1998, the Sailor Moon manga had been exported to over 23 countries, including China, Brazil, Mexico, Australia, North America and most of Europe. In 1997, Mixx Entertainment began publishing Sailor Moon , along with CLAMP 's Magic Knight Rayearth , Hitoshi Iwaaki 's Parasyte and Tsutomu Takahashi 's Ice Blade in
12075-450: The Spirit , Nabari no Ou , Inu x Boku SS , The Case Study of Vanitas and Soul Eater . The comics are later collected in paperback volumes under brand names such as Gangan Comics ( ガンガンコミックス , Gangan Komikkusu ) , Gangan Comics Joker ( ガンガンコミックスJOKER , Gangan Komikkusu Jōkā ) and Young Gangan Comics ( ヤングガンガンコミックス , Yangu Gangan Komikkusu ) , which identify
12236-399: The United States have drawn comics and cartoons influenced by manga. As an early example, Vernon Grant drew manga-influenced comics while living in Japan in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Others include Frank Miller 's mid-1980s Ronin , Adam Warren and Toren Smith's 1988 The Dirty Pair , Ben Dunn 's 1987 Ninja High School and Manga Shi 2000 from Crusade Comics (1997). By
12397-513: The United States in the early 2000s, several American artists began creating original English-language manga for female readers featuring male-male couples referred to as "American yaoi ". The first known commercially published original English-language yaoi comic is Sexual Espionage #1 by Daria McGrain, published by Sin Factory in May 2002. As international artists began creating yaoi works,
12558-399: The United States, German publisher Carlsen Manga also published original yaoi works. BL audio dramas , occasionally referred to as "drama CDs", "sound dramas", or "BLCDs", are recorded voice performances of male-male romance scenarios performed by primarily male voice actors. They are typically adaptations of original BL manga and novels. The first BL audio dramas were released in
12719-805: The Valley of the Wind from Viz Media, and Appleseed from Eclipse Comics in 1988, and later Iczer-1 ( Antarctic Press , 1994) and Ippongi Bang 's F-111 Bandit (Antarctic Press, 1995). During the 1980s and 1990s, Japanese animation, such as Akira , Dragon Ball , Neon Genesis Evangelion , and Pokémon , made a larger impact on the fan experience and in the market than manga. Matters changed when translator-entrepreneur Toren Smith founded Studio Proteus in 1986. Smith and Studio Proteus acted as an agent and translator of many Japanese manga, including Masamune Shirow 's Appleseed and Kōsuke Fujishima 's Oh My Goddess! , for Dark Horse and Eros Comix , eliminating
12880-418: The West, the term shōnen-ai is sometimes used to describe titles that focus on romance over explicit sexual content, while yaoi is used to describe titles that primarily feature sexually explicit themes and subject material. Yaoi can also be used by Western fans as a label for anime or manga-based slash fiction . The Japanese use of yaoi to denote only works with explicit scenes sometimes clashes with
13041-422: The Western use of the word to describe the genre as a whole, creating confusion between Japanese and Western audiences. Homosexuality and androgyny have a history in Japan dating to ancient times , as seen in practices such as shudō ( 衆道 , same-sex love between samurai and their companions) and kagema ( 陰間 , male sex workers who served as apprentice kabuki actors) . The country shifted away from
13202-400: The act, a trope that may have originated with Kaze to Ki no Uta . Kristy Valenti of The Comics Journal notes that rape narratives typically focus on how "irresistible" the uke is and how the seme "cannot control himself" in his presence, thus absolving the seme of responsibility for his rape of the uke . She notes this is likely why the narrative climax of many BL stories depicts
13363-422: The age and gender of the target readership. In particular, books and magazines sold to boys ( shōnen ) and girls ( shōjo ) have distinctive cover-art, and most bookstores place them on different shelves. Due to cross-readership, consumer response is not limited by demographics. For example, male readers may subscribe to a series intended for female readers, and so on. Japan has manga cafés , or manga kissa ( kissa
13524-566: The age of its intended readership: boys up to 18 years old ( shōnen manga) and young men 18 to 30 years old ( seinen manga); as well as by content, including action-adventure often involving male heroes, slapstick humor, themes of honor, and sometimes explicit sex. The Japanese use different kanji for two closely allied meanings of "seinen"— 青年 for "youth, young man" and 成年 for "adult, majority"—the second referring to pornographic manga aimed at grown men and also called seijin ("adult" 成人 ) manga. Shōnen , seinen , and seijin manga share
13685-783: The anime fandom magazine Newtype featured single chapters within their monthly periodicals. Other magazines like Nakayoshi feature many stories written by many different artists; these magazines, or "anthology magazines", as they are also known (colloquially "phone books"), are usually printed on low-quality newsprint and can be anywhere from 200 to more than 850 pages thick. Manga magazines also contain one-shot comics and various four-panel yonkoma (equivalent to comic strips ). Manga series can run for many years if they are successful. Popular shonen magazines include Weekly Shōnen Jump , Weekly Shōnen Magazine and Weekly Shōnen Sunday - Popular shoujo manga include Ciao , Nakayoshi and Ribon . Manga artists sometimes start out with
13846-412: The anthology of serialisation. These paperback brand names are formed by omitting any gekkan ( 月刊 , monthly publication) or shōnen ( 少年 , boy) in the magazine name and inserting Comics ( コミックス , Komikkusu ) directly after the word Gangan . Monthly Shōnen Gangan ( 月刊少年ガンガン , Gekkan Shōnen Gangan ) is a monthly manga anthology that regularly has over 600 pages. Shōnen Gangan
14007-499: The atomic bombing of Hiroshima issued by Leonard Rifas and Educomics (1980–1982). More manga were translated between the mid-1980s and 1990s, including Golgo 13 in 1986, Lone Wolf and Cub from First Comics in 1987, and Kamui , Area 88 , and Mai the Psychic Girl , also in 1987 and all from Viz Media - Eclipse Comics . Others soon followed, including Akira from Marvel Comics ' Epic Comics imprint, Nausicaä of
14168-756: The beginning of the 21st century, several U.S. manga publishers had begun to produce work by U.S. artists under the broad marketing-label of manga. In 2002, I.C. Entertainment, formerly Studio Ironcat and now out of business, launched a series of manga by U.S. artists called Amerimanga . In 2004, eigoMANGA launched the Rumble Pak and Sakura Pakk anthology series . Seven Seas Entertainment followed suit with World Manga . Simultaneously, TokyoPop introduced original English-language manga (OEL manga) later renamed Global Manga . Yaoi Boys' love ( Japanese : ボーイズ ラブ , Hepburn : bōizu rabu ) , also known by its abbreviation BL ( ビーエル , bīeru ) ,
14329-591: The best examples of an amateur work becoming professional is One-Punch Man which was released online and later received a professional remake released digitally and an anime adaptation soon thereafter. Many of the big print publishers have also released digital only magazines and websites where web manga get published alongside their serialized magazines. Shogakukan for instance has two websites, Sunday Webry and Ura Sunday, that release weekly chapters for web manga and even offer contests for mangaka to submit their work. Both Sunday Webry and Ura Sunday have become one of
14490-510: The buttons on the wrong side, however these issues are minor when compared to the unnatural reading flow, and some of them could be solved with an adaptation work that goes beyond just translation and blind flipping. Manga has highly influenced the art styles of manhwa and manhua . Manga in Indonesia is published by Elex Media Komputindo , Level Comic , M&C and Gramedia . Manga has influenced Indonesia's original comic industry. Manga in
14651-615: The characters' gradual acceptance within the wider community. BL typically depicts Japanese society as more accepting of LGBT people than it is in reality , which Mizoguchi contends is a form of activism among BL authors. Some longer-form stories such as Fake and Kizuna: Bonds of Love have the couple form a family unit, depicting them cohabiting and adopting children. It is also possible that they marry and have children, as in Omegaverse publications. Fujimoto cites Ossan's Love (2016–2018) and other BL television dramas that emerged in
14812-444: The conventional black-and-white format despite some never getting physical publication. Pixiv is the most popular site where amateur and professional work gets published on the site. It has grown to be the most visited site for artwork in Japan. Twitter has also become a popular place for web manga with many artists releasing pages weekly on their accounts in the hope of their work getting picked up or published professionally. One of
14973-642: The country celebrates Manga Day on every 27 August. In 2021 manga sales in Germany rose by 75% from its original record of 70 million in 2005. As of 2022 Germany is the third largest manga market in Europe after Italy and France. In 2021, the Spanish manga market hit a record of 1033 new title publications. In 2022 the 28th edition of the Barcelona Manga Festival opened its doors to more than 163,000 fans, compared to
15134-476: The country were manga and France is the biggest manga importer. By mid-2021, 75 percent of the €300 value of Culture Pass [ fr ] accounts given to French 18 year-olds was spent on manga. According to the Japan External Trade Organization, sales of manga reached $ 212.6 million within France and Germany alone in 2006. France represents about 50% of the European market and is
15295-437: The couple, but "the cruel and intrusive demands of an uncompromising outside world". Thorn theorizes that depictions of tragedy and abuse in BL exist to allow the audience "to come to terms in some way with their own experiences of abuse." Bara ( 薔薇 , "rose") , also known as gay manga ( ゲイ漫画 ) or gei komi ( ゲイコミ , "gay comics") is a genre focused on male same-sex love , as created primarily by gay men for
15456-501: The development of its own style of idols known as khu jin (imaginary couples) who are designed to be paired together by Thai BL's predominantly female fans. For cultural anthropologist Thomas Baudinette, BL series produced in Thailand represent the next stage in the historic development of BL, which is increasingly becoming "dislocated" from Japan among international fans' understanding of the genre. While BL fandom in China traces back to
15617-453: The differences between them are ill-defined and that even when differentiated, the subgenres "remain thematically intertwined." In Suzuki's investigation of these subgenres, she notes that "there is no appropriate and convenient Japanese shorthand term to embrace all subgenres of male-male love fiction by and for women." Yaoi has been used as an umbrella term in the West for Japanese-influenced comics with male-male relationships, and
15778-403: The dynamics between the seme and uke , not all works adhere to seme and uke tropes. The possibility of switching roles is often a source of playful teasing and sexual excitement for the characters, indicating an interest among many genre authors in exploring the performative nature of the roles. Riba ( リバ ) , a shorthand for "reversible" (リバーシブル), is used to describe couples where
15939-485: The evolution of Western comics; Western comic art probably originated in 17th century Italy. Writers on manga history have described two broad and complementary processes shaping modern manga. One view represented by other writers such as Frederik L. Schodt , Kinko Ito, and Adam L. Kern, stress continuity of Japanese cultural and aesthetic traditions, including pre-war, Meiji , and pre-Meiji culture and art . The other view, emphasizes events occurring during and after
16100-443: The fast growth of digital manga sales as well as increase of print sales. In 2022 Japan's manga market hit yet another record value of ¥675.9 billion. Manga have also gained a significant worldwide readership. Beginning with the late 2010s manga started massively outselling American comics. As of 2021, the top four comics publishers in the world are manga publishers Shueisha , Kodansha , Kadokawa , and Shogakukan . In 2020
16261-829: The first gay manga magazines were published: Barazoku , the first commercially circulated gay men's magazine in Japan, was published in 1971, and served as a major influence on Takemiya and the development of shōnen-ai . The dōjinshi (self-published works) subculture emerged contemporaneously in the 1970s (see Media below), and in 1975, the first Comiket was held as a gathering of amateur artists who produce dōjinshi . The term yaoi , initially used by some creators of male-male romance dōjinshi to describe their creations ironically, emerged to describe amateur works that were influenced by shōnen-ai and gay manga. Early yaoi dōjinshi produced for Comiket were typically derivative works , with glam rock artists such as David Bowie and Queen as popular subjects as
16422-467: The first yaoi -influenced media to be encountered by Western audiences. BL gained popularity in mainland China in the late 1990s; the country subsequently outlawed the publishing and distribution of BL works. The mid-1990s saw the so-called " yaoi debate" or yaoi ronsō (や お い 論争), a debate held primarily in a series of essays published in the feminist magazine Choisir from 1992 to 1997. In an open letter , Japanese gay writer Masaki Satō criticized
16583-401: The first manga magazine in 1874: Eshinbun Nipponchi . The magazine was heavily influenced by Japan Punch , founded in 1862 by Charles Wirgman , a British cartoonist. Eshinbun Nipponchi had a very simple style of drawings and did not become popular with many people. Eshinbun Nipponchi ended after three issues. The magazine Kisho Shimbun in 1875 was inspired by Eshinbun Nipponchi , which
16744-720: The following years, manga became increasingly popular, and new publishers entered the field while the established publishers greatly expanded their catalogues. The Pokémon manga Electric Tale of Pikachu issue #1 sold over 1 million copies in the United States, making it the best-selling single comic book in the United States since 1993. By 2008, the U.S. and Canadian manga market generated $ 175 million in annual sales. Simultaneously, mainstream U.S. media began to discuss manga, with articles in The New York Times , Time magazine , The Wall Street Journal , and Wired magazine. As of 2017, manga distributor Viz Media
16905-439: The gay manga magazine Sabu [ ja ] , launched the magazine June in 1978, while Minori Shobo [ ja ] launched Allan in 1980. Both magazines initially specialized in shōnen-ai , which Magazine Magazine described as "halfway between tanbi literature and pornography," and also published articles on homosexuality, literary fiction, illustrations, and amateur yaoi works. The success of June
17066-491: The generic terms for this material across Asia, in Thailand, BL dramas are sometimes referred to as "Y" or "Y series" as a shorthand for yaoi . Thai Series Y explicitly adapts the content of Japanese BL to the Thai local context and in recent years has become increasingly popular with fans around the world who often view Thai BL as separate to its Japanese antecedents. Thai BL also deliberately borrows from K-pop celebrity culture in
17227-445: The genre as homophobic for not depicting gay men accurately, and called fans of yaoi "disgusting women" who "have a perverse interest in sexual intercourse between men." A years-long debate ensued, with yaoi fans and artists contending that yaoi is entertainment for women that does not seek to be a realistic depiction of homosexuality, and instead serves as a refuge from the misogyny of Japanese society. The scholarly debate that
17388-435: The genre focused "more on the homosexual way of life from a realistic perspective", over time the genre has become less realistic and more comedic, and the stories are "simply for entertainment". BL manga often have fantastical, historical or futuristic settings, and many fans consider the genre to be escapist fiction . Homophobia, when it is presented as an issue at all, is used as a plot device to heighten drama, or to show
17549-443: The genre increasingly depicted Japanese settings over western settings. Works influenced by shōnen-ai in the 1980s began to depict older protagonists and adopted a realist style in both plot and artwork, as typified by manga such as Banana Fish (1985–1994) by Akimi Yoshida and Tomoi (1986) by Wakuni Akisato [ ja ] . The 1980s also saw the proliferation of yaoi into anime , drama CDs , and light novels ;
17710-471: The genre that drew inspiration from by Japanese and European literature, cinema, and history. Members of the group, including Keiko Takemiya and Moto Hagio , created works that depicted male homosexuality: In The Sunroom (1970) by Takemiya is considered the first work of the genre that would become known as shōnen-ai , followed by Hagio's The November Gymnasium (1971). Takemiya, Hagio, Toshie Kihara , Ryoko Yamagishi , and Kaoru Kurimoto were among
17871-486: The genre—when a character claims that he is 'not gay, but just in love with a man'—has both homophobic (or modern ) temporal undertones but also non-identitarian (postmodern) ones." In 2019, BL manga magazine editors have stated that stories where a man is concerned about coming out as gay have become uncommon and the trope can be seen as outdated if used as a source of conflict between the characters. Eroticized depictions of rape are often associated with BL. Anal sex
18032-455: The hero, as in Negima and Hanaukyo Maid Team , or groups of heavily armed female warriors ( sentō bishōjo ) By the turn of the 21st century, manga "achieved worldwide popularity". With the relaxation of censorship in Japan in the 1990s, an assortment of explicit sexual material appeared in manga intended for male readers, and correspondingly continued into the English translations. In 2010,
18193-632: The late 1950s and 1960s, partly from left-wing student and working-class political activism, and partly from the aesthetic dissatisfaction of young manga artists like Yoshihiro Tatsumi with existing manga. In Japan, manga constituted an annual 40.6 billion yen (approximately US$ 395 million) publication-industry by 2007. In 2006 sales of manga books made up for about 27% of total book-sales, and sale of manga magazines, for 20% of total magazine-sales. The manga industry has expanded worldwide, where distribution companies license and reprint manga into their native languages. Marketeers primarily classify manga by
18354-473: The late 1950s, which sought to use manga to tell serious and grounded stories aimed at adult audiences. Gekiga inspired the creation of manga that depicted realistic human relationships, and opened the way for manga that explored human sexuality in a non-pornographic context. Hideko Mizuno 's 1969 shōjo manga (girls' comics) series Fire! (1969–1971), which eroticized its male protagonists and depicted male homosexuality in American rock and roll culture,
18515-475: The late 1970s and early 1980s in the context of dōjinshi ( self-published works) culture as a portmanteau of yama nashi, ochi nashi, imi nashi ("no climax, no point, no meaning"), where it was used in a self-deprecating manner to refer to amateur fan works that focused on sex to the exclusion of plot and character development, and that often parodied mainstream manga and anime by depicting male characters from popular series in sexual scenarios. "Boys' love"
18676-581: The late 1990s as danmei (the Mandarin reading of the Japanese term tanbi ), state regulations in China made it difficult for danmei writers to publish their works online, with a 2009 ordinance by the National Publishing Administration of China banning most danmei online fiction. In 2015, laws prohibiting depictions of same-sex relationships in television and film were implemented in China. The growth in streaming service providers in
18837-591: The magazine was with the April 2009 issue sold on February 21, 2009, and it was subsequently replaced by Gangan Joker . Manga featured: Monthly Gangan Wing ( 月刊ガンガンWING , Gekkan Gangan Wing ) was a Japanese shōnen manga magazine published by Square Enix . The last release of the magazine was with the May 2009 issue sold on March 21, 2009, and it was subsequently replaced by Gangan Joker . Manga featured: Manga Manga ( 漫画 , IPA: [maŋga] ) are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan . Most manga conform to
18998-474: The magazine) saw and decided to emulate. In 1924, Kodomo Pakku was launched as another children's manga magazine after Shōnen Pakku . During the boom, Poten (derived from the French "potin") was published in 1908. All the pages were in full color with influences from Tokyo Pakku and Osaka Puck . It is unknown if there were any more issues besides the first one. Kodomo Pakku was launched May 1924 by Tokyosha and featured high-quality art by many members of
19159-521: The manga artist group Clamp began as an amateur dōjinshi circle creating yaoi works based on Saint Seiya , while Kodaka Kazuma and Fumi Yoshinaga have produced dōjinshi concurrently with professionally-published works. Many publishing companies review BL dōjinshi to recruit talented amateurs; this practice has led to careers in mainstream manga for Youka Nitta , Shungiku Nakamura , and others. Typically, BL dōjinshi feature male-male pairings from non-romantic manga and anime. Much of
19320-498: The manga artistry like Takei Takeo, Takehisa Yumeji and Aso Yutaka. Some of the manga featured speech balloons , where other manga from the previous eras did not use speech balloons and were silent. Published from May 1935 to January 1941, Manga no Kuni coincided with the period of the Second Sino-Japanese War (1937–1945). Manga no Kuni featured information on becoming a mangaka and on other comics industries around
19481-544: The material derives from male-oriented shōnen and seinen works, which contain close male-male friendships perceived by fans to imply elements of homoeroticism , such as with Captain Tsubasa and Saint Seiya , two titles which popularized yaoi in the 1980s. Weekly Shonen Jump is known to have a large female readership who engage in BL readings; publishers of shōnen manga may create "homoerotic-themed" merchandise as fan service to their BL fans. BL fans may " ship " any male-male pairing, sometimes pairing off
19642-422: The monthly manga magazine MixxZine . Mixx Entertainment, later renamed Tokyopop , also published manga in trade paperbacks and, like Viz, began aggressive marketing of manga to both young male and young female demographics. During this period, Dark Horse Manga was a major publisher of translated manga. In addition to Oh My Goddess! , the company published Akira , Astro Boy , Berserk , Blade of
19803-429: The most influential yaoi manga magazines of this era. The manga in these magazines were influenced by realist stories like Banana Fish , and moved away from the shōnen-ai standards of the 1970s and 1980s. Shōnen-ai works that were published during this period were typically comedies rather than melodramas, such as Gravitation (1996–2002) by Maki Murakami . Consequently, yaoi and "boys' love" (BL) came to be
19964-493: The most notable being ReLIFE and Recovery of an MMO Junkie . By 2007, the influence of manga on international comics had grown considerably over the past two decades. "Influence" is used here to refer to effects on the comics markets outside Japan and to aesthetic effects on comics artists internationally. Traditionally, manga stories flow from top to bottom and from right to left . Some publishers of translated manga keep to this original format. Other publishers mirror
20125-549: The most popular terms to describe works depicting male-male romance, eclipsing shōnen-ai and June . An increasing proportion of shōjo manga in the 1990s began to integrate yaoi elements into their plots. The manga artist group Clamp , which itself began as a group creating yaoi dōjinshi , published multiple works containing yaoi elements during this period, such as RG Veda (1990–1995), Tokyo Babylon (1991–1994), and Cardcaptor Sakura (1996–2000). When these works were released in North America, they were among
20286-468: The most significant shōnen-ai artists of this era; notable works include The Heart of Thomas (1974–1975) by Hagio and Kaze to Ki no Uta (1976-1984) by Takemiya. Works by these artists typically featured tragic romances between androgynous bishōnen in historic European settings. Though these works were nominally aimed at an audience of adolescent girls and young women, they also attracted adult gay and lesbian readers. During this same period,
20447-703: The name XOY in Japan). Kakao has also had success by offering licensed manga and translated Korean webtoons with their service Piccoma . All three companies credit their success to the webtoon pay model where users can purchase each chapter individually instead of having to buy the whole book while also offering some chapters for free for a period of time allowing anyone to read a whole series for free if they wait long enough. The added benefit of having all of their titles in color and some with special animations and effects have also helped them succeed. Some popular Japanese webtoons have also gotten anime adaptations and print releases,
20608-518: The nation of Algeria ("DZ-manga"). The word "manga" comes from the Japanese word 漫画 ( katakana : マンガ ; hiragana : まんが ), composed of the two kanji 漫 (man) meaning "whimsical or impromptu" and 画 (ga) meaning "pictures". The same term is the root of the Korean word for comics, manhwa , and the Chinese word manhua . The word first came into common usage in the late 18th century with
20769-497: The need for these publishers to seek their own contacts in Japan. Simultaneously, the Japanese publisher Shogakukan opened a U.S. market initiative with their U.S. subsidiary Viz, enabling Viz to draw directly on Shogakukan's catalogue and translation skills. Japanese publishers began pursuing a U.S. market in the mid-1990s, due to a stagnation in the domestic market for manga. The U.S. manga market took an upturn with mid-1990s anime and manga versions of Masamune Shirow's Ghost in
20930-421: The pages horizontally before printing the translation, changing the reading direction to a more "Western" left to right, so as not to confuse foreign readers or traditional comics-consumers. This practice is known as "flipping". For the most part, criticism suggests that flipping goes against the original intentions of the creator (for example, if a person wears a shirt that reads "MAY" on it, and gets flipped, then
21091-459: The perception that rape is almost ubiquitous in BL/ yaoi ." Tragic narratives that focused on the suffering of the protagonists were popular early June stories, particularly stories that ended in one or both members of the central couple dying from suicide . By the mid-1990s, happy endings were more common; when tragic endings are shown, the cause is typically not an interpersonal conflict between
21252-471: The personification of countries in Hetalia: Axis Powers ) or complementary objects like salt and pepper . In Japan, the labeling of BL dōjinshi is typically composed of the two lead characters' names, separated by a multiplication sign , with the seme being first and the uke being second. Outside of Japan, the 2000 broadcast of Mobile Suit Gundam Wing in North America on Cartoon Network
21413-431: The popularity of web manga to launch more series and also offer better distribution of their officially translated works under Kodansha Comics thanks in part to the titles being released digitally first before being published physically. The rise web manga has also been credited to smartphones and computers as more and more readers read manga on their phones rather than from a print publication. While paper manga has seen
21574-458: The presence of rape in BL media made them uncomfortable, as the majority of respondents could distinguish between the "fantasy, genre-driven rape" of BL and rape as a crime in reality. This "surprisingly high tolerance" for depictions of rape is contextualized by a content analysis , which found that just 13 percent of all original Japanese BL available commercially in English contains depictions of rape. These findings are argued as "possibly belying
21735-524: The publication of such works as Santō Kyōden 's picturebook Shiji no yukikai (1798), and in the early 19th century with such works as Aikawa Minwa's Manga hyakujo (1814) and the celebrated Hokusai Manga books (1814–1834) containing assorted drawings from the sketchbooks of the famous ukiyo-e artist Hokusai . Rakuten Kitazawa (1876–1955) first used the word "manga" in the modern sense. In Japanese, "manga" refers to all kinds of cartooning, comics, and animation. Among English speakers, "manga" has
21896-634: The publication of works such as Santō Kyōden 's picturebook Shiji no yukikai (1798), and in the early 19th century with such works as Aikawa Minwa's Manga hyakujo (1814) and the Hokusai Manga books (1814–1834). Adam L. Kern has suggested that kibyoshi , picture books from the late 18th century, may have been the world's first comic books . These graphical narratives share with modern manga humorous, satirical, and romantic themes. Some works were mass-produced as serials using woodblock printing . However, Eastern comics are generally held separate from
22057-467: The purity of the leads' love. Rachel Thorn has suggested that as BL is primarily a romance genre, its readers may be turned off by political themes such as homophobia. BL author Makoto Tateno expressed skepticism that realistic depictions of gay men's lives would become common in BL "because girls like fiction more than realism". Alan Williams argues that the lack of a gay identity in BL is due to BL being postmodern , stating that "a common utterance in
22218-425: The related Gangan YG and Monthly Gangan Wing . Manga and series featured: Monthly GFantasy ( 月刊Gファンタジー , Gekkan Jī Fantajī ) , also known as Gangan Fantasy , is a Japanese shōnen manga magazine. Launched in 1992 as a special issue of Shounen Gangan under the name Fantastic Comic (ファンタスティックコミック). In 1993 it became its own magazine under the name of Monthly Gangan Fantasy (月刊ガンガンファンタジー). In
22379-428: The roles are sometimes referred to as osoi uke ( 襲い受け , "attacking uke ") and hetare seme ( ヘタレ攻め , "wimpy seme ") . Historically, female characters had minor roles in BL, or were absent altogether. Suzuki notes that mothers in particular are often portrayed in a negative light; she suggests this is because the character and reader alike are seeking to substitute the absence of unconditional maternal love with
22540-490: The roles of seme , the sexual top or active pursuer, and uke , the sexual bottom or passive pursued. BL has a robust global presence, having spread since the 1990s through international licensing and distribution, as well as through unlicensed circulation of works by BL fans online. BL works, culture, and fandom have been studied and discussed by scholars and journalists worldwide. Multiple terms exist to describe Japanese and Japanese-influenced male-male romance fiction as
22701-475: The sales of yaoi manga in the United States at approximately US$ 6 million in 2007. Marketing was significant in the transnational travel of BL from Japan to the United States, and led to BL to attract a following of LGBTQ fans in the United States. The 1994 original video animation adaptation of Kizuna: Bonds of Love was distributed by Ariztical Entertainment, which specializes in LGBT cinema and marketed
22862-406: The samurai archetype is responsible for age differences and hierarchical variations in power of some relationships portrayed in BL. The seme is often depicted as restrained, physically powerful, and protective; he is generally older and taller, with a stronger chin, shorter hair, smaller eyes, and a more stereotypically masculine and " macho " demeanour than the uke . The seme usually pursues
23023-564: The second worldwide market, behind Japan. In 2013, there were 41 publishers of manga in France and, together with other Asian comics, manga represented around 40% of new comics releases in the country, surpassing Franco-Belgian comics for the first time. European publishers marketing manga translated into French include Asuka, Casterman , Glénat , Kana , and Pika Édition , among others. European publishers also translate manga into Dutch, German, Italian, and other languages. In 2007, about 70% of all comics sold in Germany were manga. Since 2010
23184-583: The solidification of its two main marketing genres, shōnen manga aimed at boys and shōjo manga aimed at girls. In 1969, a group of female manga artists (later called the Year 24 Group , also known as Magnificent 24s ) made their shōjo manga debut ("year 24" comes from the Japanese name for the year 1949, the birth-year of many of these artists). The group included Moto Hagio , Riyoko Ikeda , Yumiko Ōshima , Keiko Takemiya , and Ryoko Yamagishi . Thereafter, primarily female manga artists would draw shōjo for
23345-526: The stricter meaning of "Japanese comics", in parallel to the usage of " anime " in and outside Japan. The term " ani-manga " is used to describe comics produced from animation cels. Manga originated from emakimono (scrolls), Chōjū-jinbutsu-giga , dating back to the 12th century. During the Edo period (1603–1867), a book of drawings titled Toba Ehon further developed what would later be called manga. The word itself first came into common usage in 1798, with
23506-558: The superheroines, shōjo manga saw releases such as Pink Hanamori 's Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch , Reiko Yoshida 's Tokyo Mew Mew , and Naoko Takeuchi 's Pretty Soldier Sailor Moon , which became internationally popular in both manga and anime formats. Groups (or sentais ) of girls working together have also been popular within this genre. Like Lucia, Hanon, and Rina singing together, and Sailor Moon, Sailor Mercury, Sailor Mars, Sailor Jupiter, and Sailor Venus working together. Manga for male readers sub-divides according to
23667-413: The term "American yaoi " fell out of use and was replaced by terms like "original English language yaoi ", "global yaoi ", and "global BL". The majority of publishers creating original English-language yaoi manga are now defunct, including Yaoi Press , DramaQueen , and Iris Print. Digital Manga Publishing last published original English-language yaoi manga in 2012; outside of
23828-577: The title as "the first gay male anime to be released on DVD in the US." The film was reviewed in the American LGBT magazine The Advocate , which compared the film to gay art house cinema . A large portion of Western fans choose to pirate BL material because they are unable or unwilling to obtain it through sanctioned methods. Scanlations and other fan translation efforts of both commercially published Japanese works and amateur dojinshi are common. When yaoi initially gained popularity in
23989-531: The top three bookstore companies in the Philippines since their introduction in 2015. During the same year, Boys' Love manga have become a popular mainstream with Thai consumers, leading to television series adapted from BL manga stories since 2016. Manga piracy is an increasing problem in Asia which effects many publishers. This has led to the Japanese government taking legal action against multiple operators of pirate websites. Manga has influenced European cartooning in
24150-419: The top web manga sites in Japan. Some have even released apps that teach how to draw professional manga and learn how to create them. Weekly Shōnen Jump released Jump Paint , an app that guides users on how to make their own manga from making storyboards to digitally inking lines. It also offers more than 120 types of pen tips and more than 1,000 screentones for artists to practice. Kodansha has also used
24311-462: The use of a caste system. In 2003, 3.8% of weekly Japanese manga magazines were dedicated exclusively to BL. Notable ongoing and defunct magazines include Magazine Be × Boy , June , Craft , Chara , Dear+ , Opera , Ciel [ ja ] , and Gush . Several of these magazines were established as companion publications to shōjo manga magazines, as they include material considered too explicit for an all-ages audience; Ciel
24472-426: The way manga is created and consumed(although this is beginning to change). Despite this, one of the biggest webtoon publishers in the world, Comico , has had success in the traditional Japanese manga market. Comico was launched by NHN Japan , the Japanese subsidiary of Korean company, NHN Entertainment . As of now , there are only two webtoon publishers that publish Japanese webtoons: Comico and Naver Webtoon (under
24633-401: The word is altered to "YAM"), who may be ignorant of how awkward it is to read comics when the eyes must flow through the pages and text in opposite directions, resulting in an experience that's quite distinct from reading something that flows homogeneously. If the translation is not adapted to the flipped artwork carefully enough it is also possible for the text to go against the picture, such as
24794-627: The world. Manga no Kuni handed its title to Sashie Manga Kenkyū in August 1940. Dōjinshi , produced by small publishers outside of the mainstream commercial market, resemble in their publishing small-press independently published comic books in the United States. Comiket , the largest comic book convention in the world with around 500,000 visitors gathering over three days, is devoted to dōjinshi . While they most often contain original stories, many are parodies of or include characters from popular manga and anime series. Some dōjinshi continue with
24955-416: The ¥600 billion mark for the first time in history, beating the 1995 peak due to a fast growth of the digital manga market which rose by ¥82.7 billion from a previous year, surpassing print manga sales which have also increased. While webtoons have caught on in popularity as a new medium for comics in Asia, Japan has been slow to adopt webtoons as the traditional format and print publication still dominate
25116-446: Was established as a companion to Monthly Asuka , while Dear+ was established as a companion to Wings . A 2008 assessment estimated that the Japanese commercial BL market grossed approximately ¥12 billion annually, with novel sales generating ¥250 million per month, manga generating ¥400 million per month, CDs generating ¥180 million per month, and video games generating ¥160 million per month. A 2010 report estimated that
25277-546: Was followed by Marumaru Chinbun in 1877, and then Garakuta Chinpo in 1879. Shōnen Sekai was the first shōnen magazine created in 1895 by Iwaya Sazanami, a famous writer of Japanese children's literature back then. Shōnen Sekai had a strong focus on the First Sino-Japanese War . In 1905, the manga-magazine publishing boom started with the Russo-Japanese War , Tokyo Pakku was created and became
25438-454: Was later adopted by Japanese publications in the 1990s as an umbrella term for male-male romance media marketed to women. Concepts and themes associated with BL include androgynous men known as bishōnen ; diminished female characters; narratives that emphasize homosociality and de-emphasize socio-cultural homophobia ; and depictions of rape. A defining characteristic of BL is the practice of pairing characters in relationships according to
25599-409: Was launched by Enix (now Square Enix) in 1991, to compete with other magazines such as Monthly Shōnen Magazine , Monthly Shōnen Jump and Shōnen Sunday Super , and is targeted toward the same young teen male demographic ( shōnen means "young man"). It features manga with much action and adventure; science fiction and fantasy elements in the stories are very common. Square Enix also publishes
25760-427: Was preferentially used by American manga publishers for works of this kind due to the belief that the term "boys' love" carries the implication of pedophilia . In Japan, yaoi is used to denote dōjinshi and works that focus on sex scenes. In all usages, yaoi and boys' love excludes gay manga ( bara ) , a genre which also depicts gay male sexual relationships, but is written for and mostly by gay men. In
25921-456: Was such that the term June-mono or more simply June began to compete with the term shōnen-ai to describe works depicting male homosexuality. By the late 1980s, the popularity of professionally published shōnen-ai was declining, and yaoi published as dōjinshi was becoming more popular. Mainstream shōnen manga with Japanese settings such as Captain Tsubasa became popular source material for derivative works by yaoi creators, and
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