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Boys' love (Japanese: ボーイズ ラブ, Hepburn: bōizu rabu), also known by its abbreviation BL (ビーエル, bīeru), is a genre of fictional media originating in Japan that depicts homoerotic relationships between male characters.
Mar 18, 2023 · At its most basic level, boys' love (sometimes also written as boys love or boy's love) is a Japanese term used to describe fictional media -- typically anime or manga-related -- centered around male/male romance.
- Anime Reporter
Dec 25, 2015 · The term shōnen-ai (boy love) originally connoted ephebophilia or pederasty in Japan, but from the early 1970s to the late 1980s, was used to describe a new genre of shōjo manga, primarily produced by the Year 24 Group of women authors, about beautiful boys in love.
Oct 25, 2023 · First and foremost, BL stands for "Boys‘ Love"—a Japanese genre that centers around romantic and sexual relationships between male characters. It originated within female-oriented manga in the 1970s but has since expanded across various media.
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- Terminology and Origins of Boys’ Love
- Girls’ Manga Revolution of The 1970s
- International Fame and Internet Culture
- ‘By Women, For Women’?
- New Frontiers
Before delving into the development of the BL genre, an explanation of the aforementioned terms might be necessary. Generally, the use of these terms today tends to be seen as interchangeable, much due to the overlapping nature and origins. In the west, the term “yaoi” tends to be used by fans as a way of identifying any media or publication with m...
Boys’ love has a history of almost 50 years of development, from its first buds in the 1970s, to today’s international communities and blossoming fandoms. To begin with, it was the so-called “Year 24 Group”(24年組; 24 nen-gumi) that pioneered the genre. This group consisted of several female mangaka who were all born around the 24thyear of Showa, or,...
Towards the late 90s and early 2000s, the BL phenomena had not only made a name for itself in Japan; it was also catching the interest of audiences abroad. In its early days during the 70s, BL developed from a form of subculture consisting of parodic or fan-made publications, often seen as the predecessors of today’s doujinshi. These publications f...
Traditionally, BL has been presented as being “by women, for women”, but this is also something which has changed in recent times. While the predecessors of today’s BL were generally women, writing for a female audience, this is no longer an uncontested rule. An associate professor at Oita University, Kazumi Nagaike is one of the critics of the ide...
As we can see, BL, while still mostly defined by the roots it developed from, is also taking on new and exciting forms of expression, stepping gradually out of the box. Some of the most popular series of the day, such as Takarai Rihito’s Ten Count, or Nakamura Asumiko’s Doukyuusei series, are challenging the traditional plots (or lack thereof), foc...
Sep 24, 2020 · Boys’ love is a genre of homoerotic manga and novels aimed at a female readership. BL has expanded to anime, television dramas, video games, and other media. Could it prompt real social change,...
Mar 6, 2017 · Yaoi commonly known as Boy’s Love (BL), is a genre that emerged from Japan’s doujinshi manga scene during the 70’s. It challenges heteronormativity because it focuses primarily on intimate relationships between male characters.
