Yaoi's international popularity is on the rise with new anime and manga being introduced each and every year, including popular titles like Given and Ten Count. However, its fellow brethren, bara, is barely known overseas despite having similar characteristics to yaoi. Most international readers only know a few recognizable authors of the bara genre such as Gengoroh Tagame and Gai Mizuki. Why is that? Bara should have equivalent success to yaoi, as it better represents gay men and gay culture.

The Origin of Bara

This is the cover art for Vol 3 of My Brother's Husband.

Bara is a sub-genre in Japan's gei manga (gay manga) world. What makes bara different from yaoi and shounen-ai is that these stories are created by gay manga artists (mangaka) for a gay male audience and have a unique art style where male characters are “hairy and muscular,” contrasting from the “pretty boy” physique in BL manga.

However, bara has a dark etymological history. Bara means “rose” in Japanese and it was originally a derogatory term for the English word, "pansy," which was directed towards gay men. In the 1960s to 1970s, the term bara was reappropriated by Japan's gay media: the movie Funeral Parade of Roses (Bara no Soretsu) became a landmark of Japanese queer cinema in 1969, and the word bara was further popularized in the first commercialized gay magazine, Barazoku (Rose Tribe), created by a straight man named Ito Bungaku in 1971.

Although bara is seen in a positive light now, gay manga artists, such as Gengoroh Tagame, refuse to describe their work as bara due to its controversial history. It’s important to note that bara is more of a term used by foreigners to help categorize gay manga and is rarely used by Japanese people. Gay manga artists like Gengoroh Tagame prefer to call their work just “gay manga” as it reflects the long history of homoerotic artwork dating back to the woodblock art and literature during the Edo period.

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Favoring A Gay Male Audience

A scene where two guys make out in the anime, Yarichin Bitch Club.

BL manga is mostly created by female manga artists for women. Yaoi caters to women’s fantasies filled with love confessions and intimacy between two guys, and is generally not focused on providing an accurate portrayal of gay men and LGTBQIA+ issues in society.

However, bara manga is gay erotic content mainly made by gay manga artists for gay men. Bara allows for authenticity since gay mangaka can draw and tell stories based on their own experiences and interests. A manga artist that exemplifies this authenticity to gay content is Gengoroh Tagame, whose work includes Fisherman’s Lodge and the more mainstream series My Brother’s Husband. Tagame’s motivation to create gay manga comes from his experience of not being able to find the manga he wanted to read elsewhere, and so, he took it upon himself to create gay content for similar readers who struggle to find gay manga that they can relate to. Bara manga and gay erotica are a form of liberation for gay men: these men can express their sexuality and interests in gay culture without being criticized by society.

Bara manga is geared to a specific audience; however, there aren’t many public outlets to popularized such work in Japan and elsewhere. Most of these publications are through the form of dojinshi and online publishing. There are a few gay magazines that offer publication for bara manga but most cease to operate. Anne Ishii argues that many bara fans do not publicize their interest in the genre. As a result, readers must do thorough research to find the bara manga they want to read.

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Sexist Men: Bishounen vs. Beastly Male Types

This is the book cover for Passion of Tagame.

In BL manga, male characters have bishounen features -- they have androgynous bodies and “pretty boy” faces. Examples of such designs include Viktor Nikiforov from Yuri on Ice (though that anime isn't categorized as BL, despite its gay romance and primarily female demographic) and Masamune Takano from Sekai-ichi Hatsukoi.

What separates bara from yaoi is that the male characters’ physiques are bulkier: they have the “bear-type” or lumberjack figure that’s mainly associated with Westerners. These characters range from gacchiri (absurdly muscular) to debu (fat), proving a wider range of beauty standards for the male appearance. Although bara is aimed at a male audience, there has been an increased interest in the genre from women who prefer male characters with bulging muscles.

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Bara & Yaoi: Emphasis on the Sex Scene

Two guys are kissing in the book, Massive.

Both bara and yaoi manga use explicit sex scenes to showcase how lust and passion can consume a man. Showcasing these raw emotions is a form of liberation and escapism for both male and female readers because they can privately indulge in their own sinful and sexual fantasies through a manga.

However, due to a largely female audience, yaoi also uses uke/seme roles that match roughly with heteronormative gender roles. The seme is the instigator and has a dominant and masculine persona while the uke receives the seme and has a feminine persona. The uke/seme dynamic is strictly used only in BL manga. Bara manga does not use uke/seme roles; instead, bara manga showcases men who love men, regardless of labeling characters with masculine and feminine attributes.

Bara manga is known for its extreme graphic sex scenes ranging from soft-core pornography to sadomasochism. Like yaoi, bara manga often feature controversial content involving sexual violence and even the fantasy of doing sexual acts towards underage characters. Depending on your morals, you may want to avoid such stories entirely, but don’t completely cast aside the entire bara genre. There are few bara manga you may want to check out such as the works in the anthology, Massive: Gay Erotic Manga and the Men Who Make It, which features the pioneer manga artists of gay erotica.

So why should bara manga be popular like yaoi? When it comes to the essentials, bara has it: the admiration of the male physique and the passionate and lustful sex scenes between men. Whether it’s bulging muscle men banging each other or a sweet high school romance between two teenage boys, yaoi and bara got you covered.

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