×
  • remind me tomorrow
  • remind me next week
  • never remind me
Subscribe to the ANN Newsletter • Wake up every Sunday to a curated list of ANN's most interesting posts of the week. read more

Forum - View topic
NEWS: Japan's 1st Boys-Love Bar to Open in Tokyo's Akihabara


Goto page Previous  1, 2

Note: this is the discussion thread for this article

Anime News Network Forum Index -> Site-related -> Talkback
View previous topic :: View next topic  
Author Message
glitteringloke



Joined: 18 Oct 2008
Posts: 160
PostPosted: Tue May 18, 2010 5:02 pm Reply with quote
and to think, i'll be in japan when it opens...

i'm not sure i'm brave enough to venture in though....
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
neocloud9



Joined: 06 Oct 2008
Posts: 1178
Location: Atlanta, GA
PostPosted: Tue May 18, 2010 6:17 pm Reply with quote
glitteringloke wrote:
and to think, i'll be in japan when it opens...

i'm not sure i'm brave enough to venture in though....


Go for it, Loke! I'll be with you in spirit! Laughing
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Dark Elf Warrior



Joined: 26 Nov 2007
Posts: 228
PostPosted: Tue May 18, 2010 8:01 pm Reply with quote
neocloud9 wrote:
Quote:
According to KT Systems, the MiracleJumP bar will have both "two-dimensional" staff members (in the form of dōjinshi) and living boys-love staff members.


Weeeird. How are they gonna manage that? Hiring straight men to act gay? Man, that'd never fly over here... Not sure if it'd be much better if they hired real gay men, though. Weird.


This is weird, I agree. I'm sorry to those who are all like "OMG! Yes!", but I find this weird. I also find it degrading to the REAL gay men of Japan. I honestly don't think real gay men will even want to be hired for this. Gay men don't want to entertain females, they want to entertain other males. Besides, I think I read once on here on the old Chicks on Anime article, that real gay men in Japan actually don't like yaoi, as they see it as a fetishizing fantasy of what homosexuality is for women. Really, I feel bad for the gays, I know they're not for this. Those fujoshi have doujinshi and yaoi-manga to look at.

Quote:
The only real problem I can see with this would arise from the audience: either older, drunken ladies yelling that they want to see some "action", or gay male customers making the young girl customers uncomfortable by bringing a bit too much reality to the BL concept.


That would be really funny if real gay men did come and make the young girl customers uncomfortable! Laughing Believe it or not, fujoshi girls really have no idea what real homosexuality is, that would be a reall wake up call when they find out that yes there really are men who like other man, and no it's not like how it is in a yaoi. Wink
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
tuxedocat



Joined: 14 Dec 2009
Posts: 2183
PostPosted: Tue May 18, 2010 8:45 pm Reply with quote
Dark Elf Warrior wrote:
That would be really funny if real gay men did come and make the young girl customers uncomfortable! Laughing Believe it or not, fujoshi girls really have no idea what real homosexuality is, that would be a reall wake up call when they find out that yes there really are men who like other man, and no it's not like how it is in a yaoi. Wink


You're scenario sounds like another Otaku fantasy. First of all, Young girls are probably not allowed in. Second, I doubt that the mature fujoshi would mind a bit if real gay men showed up to share in the fun. I live in the San Francisco Bay area and know a few men who would enjoy this place immensely.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message My Anime
egoist



Joined: 20 Jun 2008
Posts: 7762
PostPosted: Tue May 18, 2010 8:52 pm Reply with quote
Quote:
First of all, Young girls are probably not allowed in.

If those are like the pubs over here, yes they can. They just can't drink alcohol. Besides since they're doing something this fancy I doubt they will be relying on alcohol sales only, and that's where young people kick in.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message My Anime My Manga
tuxedocat



Joined: 14 Dec 2009
Posts: 2183
PostPosted: Tue May 18, 2010 8:57 pm Reply with quote
egoist wrote:
If those are like the pubs over here, yes they can. They just can't drink alcohol. Besides since they're doing something this fancy I doubt they will be relying on alcohol sales only, and that's where young people kick in.


Well, I'm not sure what alcohol laws are over there, but I'll still stand by my statement. I just don't think that many "young" girls under a certain age will have the money. These places are usually expensive.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message My Anime
egoist



Joined: 20 Jun 2008
Posts: 7762
PostPosted: Tue May 18, 2010 9:07 pm Reply with quote
tuxedocat wrote:
These places are usually expensive.

What isn't expensive over there? If they're able to live there, then I wouldn't be surprised they're able to go to a fancy bar over there.

This is pretty much a short definition of the law regarding minors entering pubs over here(UK):
Quote:
Fourteen-year-olds may enter a pub unaccompanied by an adult if they order a meal. Children may enter a pub with their parents until 9 p.m., which lets families enjoy reasonably priced pub meals together, and allows pubs to continue in their traditional roles as community centers.


I doubt Japan is stricter than that, but then again I don't know much about their laws.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message My Anime My Manga
Ktimene's Lover



Joined: 23 Apr 2005
Posts: 2242
Location: Glendale, AZ (Proudly living in the desert)
PostPosted: Tue May 18, 2010 9:40 pm Reply with quote
Japan already has too many adaptations of visual novels and light novels that often end up in the realm of moe/LGBT-related stuff/harem/ecchi. Are they really that desperated they would open up to this level of potential absurdity?
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail AIM Address MSN Messenger
egoist



Joined: 20 Jun 2008
Posts: 7762
PostPosted: Tue May 18, 2010 9:54 pm Reply with quote
Quote:
Are they really that desperate they would open up to this level of potential absurdity?

It's their culture. It's not an absurd to them. I sincerely don't see the difference between this and X-Men/Star Trek conventions, or perhaps their usual maid cafe. Come on, there are people wearing maid outfits, and I've never seen that in real life.

Next up: Transformers cafe. Drank your oil yet?
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message My Anime My Manga
eyeresist



Joined: 02 Apr 2007
Posts: 995
Location: a 320x240 resolution igloo (Sydney)
PostPosted: Wed May 19, 2010 8:35 pm Reply with quote
Dark Elf Warrior wrote:
I also find it degrading to the REAL gay men of Japan. I honestly don't think real gay men will even want to be hired for this. Gay men don't want to entertain females, they want to entertain other males. Besides, I think I read once on here on the old Chicks on Anime article, that real gay men in Japan actually don't like yaoi, as they see it as a fetishizing fantasy of what homosexuality is for women. Really, I feel bad for the gays, I know they're not for this. Those fujoshi have doujinshi and yaoi-manga to look at.

This was a kind of ultra-PC response, and probably not accurate (how can you speak for all the gay men in Japan?). Why aren't you worried about the feelings of all the poor martial artists, what with all the unrealistic fighting in animes? A: It's just entertainment.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message My Anime
Dorcas_Aurelia



Joined: 23 Jul 2006
Posts: 5344
Location: Philly
PostPosted: Thu May 20, 2010 4:51 pm Reply with quote
The difference is that martial arts doesn't generally affect an individual's life outside of training or competitions; sexual orientation does. Also, it's far less common for people to mistake the outrageous maneuvers of fictional martial arts as real than the artificial relationships in BL stories.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail My Anime My Manga
poonk



Joined: 05 Jun 2008
Posts: 1490
Location: In the Library with Philip
PostPosted: Thu May 20, 2010 10:11 pm Reply with quote
ArsenicSteel wrote:
With the intention to have a host club for boy-love, wouldn't most of applicants be gay, bi, curious, or just adventurous?
Nah, just in need of money mostly, I'd bet.

Y'know, I enjoy BL but I'm pretty sure I wouldn't particularly enjoy this. I'd be too concerned about if the guys (genuinely gay/bi or not) felt awkward being ogled. Same goes for butler-/maid-type cafes, or kind of like how I would never enjoy being on the receiving end of a stripper. Not that I don't enjoy a bit of eye candy (though the stereotypical [male] stripper isn't my type) but I'm always on some level wondering how the person playing the "candy" feels about it.

Oh and just for the record (in case I didn't make it obvious)-- my slight distaste is not because my BL "fantasies" would be shattered by seeing real gay guys. Rolling Eyes Please, I don't live in a vacuum.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Visit poster's website My Anime My Manga
configspace



Joined: 16 Aug 2008
Posts: 3717
PostPosted: Fri May 21, 2010 4:58 am Reply with quote
Regarding most of the above..

About hosts in general, I wouldn't worry about the guys one bit. I think we might be trying to apply our own ultra-PC sensibilities to another place where it's really not of any concern. Those who are there choose to be there, and there are always many applicants. The only downside is the heavy drinking and smoking. Anyways, see the old documentary http://www.thegreathappinessspace.com/
and this for an update;
Quote:
"
That is many years ago and Issei-san is now owner of another Host-club called "french kiss club" if I'm not mistaken.

And the (at that time) young and beautiful Ryoma became very famous thanks to the movie, became a model and is nowadays also working as a designer for his own brand EXTASER

as well as:
http://forum.gaijinpot.com/showthread.php?69454-Becoming-a-Host/page4
and various youtube videos of actual hosts
http://www.youtube.com/user/SetsunaSaigami
http://www.youtube.com/user/julesdilla

As far as sexual orientation and all this maddening seriousness goes Rolling Eyes, it has never historically been like the western modern rigid ideal of i.e. "being gay is who you are". It is interesting to see how the culture was like during the Edo period and earlier with regards to sexuality in general. "Yaoi" and "yuri" were present in fiction and real life up to 1000 years ago and it was no big deal for both men and women. Nobody blinked an eye at sexual orientation and no one used it as a means self identification.

See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sexual_minorities_in_Japan#Japanese_definiti]ons_of_gender_and_sexuality
Quote:

Before western contact, Japan did not have a system of identification in which one’s identity was determined by one’s biological sexual preference. In fact, “the tripartite taxonomy of sexual types that has resulted from the social construction [homo-, bi-, heterosexuality-], held no currency in Japan.”[4]

However, this does not indicate that sexual behaviors between individuals of the same sex were not practiced. In fact, such behavior was so common in Japan that documentation of same sex relationships dates back over a thousand years.

(... also... )
Originally, shudō (衆道), wakashudō (若衆道) and nanshoku (男色) were the preferred terms during the Edo period. These terms did not imply a specific identity, but rather, their behaviours.


The Tale of Genji, ~1000 AD, held as high literature, is aside from a political drama and romance, an ancient example of harem, archetypal strong effeminate bi- male character and yaoi and fujoshi (by Lady Murasaki), rolled into one e.g.
Quote:

"Genji pulled the boy down beside him . . . Genji, for his part, or so one is informed, found the boy more attractive than his chilly sister."

that actually reflected more of reality than some would think!

Even the current situation presented here in its tamer fictional BL-themed bar form here has real historical cultural precedence, even the danso (cross-dressing) part (see onnagata):
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homosexuality_in_Japan
Quote:
From religious circles, same-sex love spread to the warrior class, where it was customary for a young samurai to apprentice to an older and more experienced man. The young samurai would be his lover for many years. The practice was known as shudo, the way of youth, and was held in high esteem by the warrior class

As Japanese society became pacified, the middle classes adopted many of the practices of the warrior class, in the case of shudo giving it a more mercantile interpretation. Male prostitutes (kagema), who were often passed off as apprentice kabuki actors and who catered to a mixed male and female clientele, did a healthy trade into the mid-1800s despite increasing restrictions

Nanshoku (male homosexuality) was not considered incompatible with heterosexuality; books of erotic prints dedicated to nanshoku often presented erotic images of both young women (concubines, mekake, or prostitutes, jōrō) as well as attractive adolescent boys (wakashū) and cross-dressing youths (onnagata). Indeed, several works suggest that the most "envious" situation would be to have both many jōrō and many wakashū.[10]

Likewise, women were considered to be particularly attracted to both wakashū and onnagata, and it was assumed that these young men would reciprocate that interest.[10] Therefore, both the typical practitioners of nanshoku and the young men they desired would be considered bisexual in modern terminology.[11]


Finally,
Quote:
Men who were purely homosexual might be called "woman-haters" (onna-girai); Laughing this term, however, carried the connotation of aggressive distaste of women in all social contexts, rather than simply a preference for male sexual partners.[12]


FYI the converse situation with women comforting other women is the same btw, though less documented. There are shunga and ukiyo depicting such scenes (with dildos, lol) and are considered highly valuable.

Again, none of this implied any gender or sexual identity, but simply an activity; so it's ridiculous to assume any kind of offense since the participants aren't claiming to represent anyone, likewise with the BL bar.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Display posts from previous:   
Reply to topic    Anime News Network Forum Index -> Site-related -> Talkback All times are GMT - 5 Hours
Goto page Previous  1, 2
Page 2 of 2

 


Powered by phpBB © 2001, 2005 phpBB Group