The hentai genre is a type of animation with a sexual theme and is very popular in Japanese culture. Hentai, also known as erotic or pornographic manga, features several specific subgenres. Two of them are yaoi and yuri. The yaoi characters are men who have homosexual relationships and the yuri are women with lesbian tendencies.
The yaoi presents different versions
The word yaoi in Japanese is an abbreviation that refers to the following concepts: without climax, without resolution and without meaning. This hentai subgenre is sometimes referred to as BL, short for Boys’ Love.
Anime-manga stories can be found in comics, movies, or on the internet. The yaoi character is one of its main protagonists. Normally in these stories appear young homosexuals with different inclinations: young people who are attracted but who do not have explicit relationships (shonen-ai) or a sexual approach where there is sexual contact (yaoi hard).
On the other hand, two different homosexual roles are highlighted in the stories: uke refers to the man who has a passive role and seme refers to the man who has a dominant role in sexual relations. Both the uke and the seme have a series of modalities (for example, the hatare seme is a type of seme that acts clumsily and with little aggressiveness and the kichiku seme is a very cold and cruel seme character).
Although the protagonists are male, their stories are preferably aimed at female audiences who value the romantic approach of these animated stories. Keep in mind that yaoi characters are romantic men with sensibility and this aspect appeals to female audiences.
Characteristics of the yuri genre
Stories with yuri characters tend to treat homosexual relationships with more maturity than yaoi stories.
Erotic relationships are addressed highlighting the emotional aspects and leaving explicit sexuality in the background. These types of stories are preferably aimed at a female audience, although some plots are focused on a male audience.
There is a manga genre for every audience
Kodomo is a subgenre intended for children and the Pokémon stories are an example of it. The Naruto stories are a sample of the shonen subgenre, which is intended for adolescents in general.
The shojo modality is aimed at adolescents and the seinen is aimed at an older audience. The josei is a category focused on adult women.
Photo: Fotolia – ES-D
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