Yaoi in Anime: Where the Boys Are
Although the genre is fairly common in Japan, American audiences are just now beginning to recognize and enjoy the existence of yaoi anime, that is, anime that features romantic and sexual relationships between two men. This genre is one that has a faithful following in older girls and women of all ages, and in the United States, you can already find several examples of yaoi anime.
It is important to remember that there is a difference between yaoi anime and anime that simply features homosexual male romance. Yaoi anime is anime that focuses exclusively on the relationship between two male characters, whether it is a sexual one, a romantic one, or some mixture of both. There is anime, however, where romantic or sexual relationships between the male characters is only incidental to the plot. One way to think about this comparison is that not all movies that have romance in them can be considered romance movies.
When watching yaoi anime, you may be a little bit surprised to find that the characters often fall into clearly defined top and bottom roles, that is, one character will clearly be more masculine and one will be significantly more feminine. It is important to remember that yaoi anime is not meant to be especially faithful to realistic depictions of male relationships. You’ll find that the more masculine character, known as the seme, is typically drawn as being taller, stronger and with more sharp or adult features, while the more feminine, or uke character is drawn shorter, smaller and with very delicate features and larger eyes. Yaoi anime can also range from rather sweet, relatively innocent scenes to scenes which are certainly more graphic, so make sure that you check the rating.
If you are interested in yaoi anime, you’ll find that there are several to choose from. One of the most famous is Ai no Kusabi. This anime takes place in the science fiction setting of the world of Amoi, where a person’s social status and power is determined through their hair color. In this world Iason Mink, a gifted and high-caste blond, takes on a black-haired gang leader by the name of Riki as his pet. The romantic and sexual relationship is one that is intensely affected by the power exchange between the two, and many have praised this anime for its fairly steamy scenes and discussion of power as it affects a relationship.
You’ll also find that there are many anime that might allude to a sexual relationship between two men, but simply leave it as something that suggested or that plays out in the background, without making it a central point of the plot. Perhaps the most famous example of this can be found in the popular anime Sailor Moon, between the characters Zoisite and Kunzite. In the American releases, the character of Zoisite was actually turned into a female to cloud the nature of the relationship between the two. Similarly, in the shojo anime, Revolutionary Girl Utena, the chairman of the academy, Akio Ohtori, can be seen as having sexual relationships with both male and female students.
If you have an interest in yaoi in anime, you’ll find that you have plenty of choices to make, so make sure that you know what you are looking for and take the plunge.
