It is typically created by women for women and is thus distinct from bara (gay manga), a genre of homoerotic media marketed to gay men, though yaoi does also attract a male audience and can be produced by male creators.
Yaoi ( / ˈ j aʊ i/ YOW-ee Japanese: やおい ), also known as boys' love ( ボーイズ ラブ, bōizu rabu) and its abbreviation BL ( ビーエル, bīeru), is a genre of fictional media originating in Japan that features homoerotic relationships between male characters.
The svelte, semi- androgynous physical features of the characters are typical of bishōnen (literally 'beautiful boys') common in yaoi media. For the Chinese male-male romance fiction genre, see Danmei.Īn example of yaoi-inspired artwork.
