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Bara


Neko-chan
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Bara aka "Mens' Love" (メンズラブ menzu rabu) or ML, is a Japanese jargon term for a genre of art and fictional media that focuses on male same-sex love and desire, usually created by and for gay men. The bara genre began in the 1960s with fetish magazines featuring gay art and content. Besides bara manga, also called gei comi (ゲイ コミ?, "gay comics"), and illustration, a number of bara erotic games exist, as well as novels and memoirs. Bara is mostly a Japanese phenomenon, with limited western exposure through manga scanlations and online homoerotic art communities. While bara faces difficulties finding western publishers, it has been described as "the next big porn wave coming out of Japan. Some of Bara artist are Gengoroh Tagame, Takeshi Matsu, Inaki Matsumoto, and Matsuzaki Tsukasa.

 

The rise of bara anthologies has promoted longer, serialized stories, but the most common story type is still the single-chapter one-shot. Bara manga usually has muscular men as the lead gay characters, but characters may vary in body type (although they do not approach the feminine litheness common in yaoi). Although some stories contain less idealized and more realistic depictions of the actual life of gay men (gay pride parades, gay marriage issues, "coming out", realistically played out sex etc.)

 

Bara is more true to actual gay male relationships, and not the heterosexual-esque relationships between the masculine seme and feminine uke types that are most common in romantic fantasy in women's yaoi manga. In comparison to yaoi, gay men's manga is unlikely to contain scenes of "uncontrollable weeping or long introspective pauses", and more likely to show characters who are "hairy, very muscular, or have a few excess pounds". Compared to gay men's manga, yaoi is "more careful to build up a strong sense of character" before sex scenes occur. - Wikipedia

 

 

My Opinion: I tried to read Bara and i failed to finish it. I have nothing against it, but it seems that i enjoy yaoi more. Yaoi is something i can't live without it-->my daily dose of drug.:hamtaro-005 (6):

 

I am a bi guy and I have never had a lover that looked or acted like one of these bara guys. I think yaoi is how a gay love should be as in boy love or is this just me.

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Though...

Bara means rose in Japanese, i love (bara)roses, and i love yaoi! But i don't like Bara yaoi... o_O ROSES ARE ROMANTIC BUT THEY... THEY...

x Breathes x

 

I don't have words for it, i'll keep it up on hot looking men.

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  • 2 months later...

I never really tried reading it, but I think I wouldn't really enjoy it. No offense to the Bara fans or anything.

 

bishounen going at it >>>> muscular men going at it

 

...Yep. Even though I feel slightly hypocritical for slightly bashing yaoi itself for overly-effeminate men, but...that's just how it rolls...?

It's something that can't be easily explained, I guess.

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my thoughts ... from what manga is the picture above?

 

It's from Mousou Elektel, or Elektel Delusion in English~ Not a bara manga at all though.

 

 

As for my thoughts on bara, well, it's not that new of a trend, I learned about bara almost at the same time I learned of yaoi and that was years and years ago~ I personnally don't like it so much because I'm not into muscular type of bodies at all, in mangas and in my real life. But there are lots of fans on the internet! I know of lots of bara fanclubs floating around the net, especially on the Ninomaru forums, if you guys are interested. ^^

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Hm. I actually quite like some bara. Mentaiko's work in particular I suggest reading "itai itai itai". As a sort of pass inbetween yaoi and bara.

 

I actually have gotten more into yaoi coming from the bara perspective rather than vice-versa. At first I thought yaoi was nothing but pubescent, effeminate boys and discovered that to be incorrect, neither is bara all chubby, old bear-like men. Even though that is a prominent presence . . . I would just encourage people to keep an open-mind.

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Yeah, I like yaoi and yuri. The thing is, I'm not attracted to girls, nor am I attracted to muscular/hairy men. Yet I have no problem with yuri. Bara on the other hand? Just no. -.- It isn't really my type of thing to read, especially since I like my manga full of plot. I've tried reading bara before and I never found any type of truly interesting plot. That's what really got me to just give up on it. That, and the whole muscular/hairy men thing. Again, just... no.

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I actually prefer that kind of Yaoi, Bara... and that Gachi Muchi? thing..

i even prefer it than Yaoi having girly ukes.. but i dont really dislike them.. actually i love them

it's just that i think it's more fun seeing two muscular guys do it together.. (not the fat-sweaty-old-man type though)

and at some point, i feel like i'm just reading hentai when seeing girly ukes do it with their semes.. lol

(when their manly parts are quite hidden~ fufufu~) but still it's YAOI AND IT ROCKS!!

 

AND SAKIRA'S WORKS ARE THE BESSSSST!!! *drools*

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I actually like reading Bara

but not to the point where there are sweaty old men..

 

MY FAVE MANGAKA IN BARA WOULD BE

SAKIRA

 

Check Out her work if you have time

I really recommend it... *bows*

 

ZARIA'S WORKS ARE ALSO AWESOMESAUCE~

 

*worships them*

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  • 1 year later...

I like Bara and Yaoi. :hamtaro-005 (6):

I like both just because it makes me happy seeing to males in love. It doesn't really matter what they look to me( much ). :5yoyo34:

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.Of course Bara is also my cup of tea. The way I obviously prefer Bolin than Mako or Ieyasu than Yukimura proves that I like my men with beef-cakes. So yeah it's good for the eyes as much as I like Yaoi but I don't really like if it's over the top.

 

 

 

Yeah my favorite author would be Tagame Gengoroh & Mentaiko.

 

And mostly watching, Jojo's Bizarre Adventure. roses all the way~

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No, I don't like Bara. I started on mangas because I thought the grafics were so beautiful and when I came across the bara genre, I stayed clear of it. I don't like overly hairy men and I've just got "manga = beautiful" and I can't get over that

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How did you see Akira Norikazu's art as Bara-ish? Her characters are beautiful. Ikemen and bishie. Try reading Priapus to erase the unbelievable thought. :

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  • 1 year later...

as you know, I'm quite opposite of you guys. Yes, I like bara, but yaoi too. I can understand that you don't like bara. Everyone have their opinions and I respect that. Yaoi is my top 3rd. I'm into furry (gay only) more than bara and yaoi, but not hentai.

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  • 1 year later...

I do like bara *nosebleed*

 

But too much muscle is not good. There are also the hairy guys (bara bears) I don't like them too much. Buth athletic and muscular guys - give them to me!

I enjoy it when the two males are about equal in strenght and body type (manly men relationship) and the uke doesn't have too many girly features.

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As much as I like men, I also like cutenesss. Don't get me wrong, I also like hotness,

but I really can't stand my men being too muscular. :_red_fox 11

Maybe a slightly visible 6pack or some meat on the arms and legs.

More than that is too much for me. :o

So no bara for me. hehe

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Ya know

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&
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both your interests in yaoi are at the exact opposite end of the spectrum but somehow i adore the both of you equally! ^_^

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Ya know
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&
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both your interests in yaoi are at the exact opposite end of the spectrum but somehow i adore the both of you equally! ^_^

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it's not like I only enjoy bara. I read almost anything yaoi related but if I get the chance to read bara then I'm just three times as thrilled as with other manga. As long as the story is hot then I have nothing to complain about. It's just a preference but not exclusively.

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@littlespiral

 

It really is the opposite :_red_fox 4

Awee I also adore you :o

and

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is also a nice person hehe

Even though we have different yaoi interests doesnt mean we can't chat about it or other things ;)

Well let's keep it to the subject of this thread haha

LOVE TO ALL YAOI- Including bara.

 

I actually read some bara that was reaaally good (the plot)

I don't dislike the genre it's just less attractive to me :p

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Honestly, I have no problem with bara. I don't even mind those overly muscular guys. It's just.. I don't know any plot driven bara. Probably it's because I didn't search enough idk, but then again, yaoi has this problem too.

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