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Forum - View topicChicks On Anime - GloBL and Gay Comics
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v1cious
 Posts: 6235 Location: Houston, TX |
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second page doesn't work.
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angel_lover
 Posts: 645 Location: UK |
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A blessing in disguise, no doubt. |
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Zac
ANN Executive Editor
 Posts: 7912 Location: Anime News Network Technodrome |
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Whoops! Fixed.
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Goodpenguin
Posts: 457 Location: Hunt Valley, MD |
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A very interesting, conversational column. I thought this was an upgrade on last weeks similar article that was earnest but a little...stringent..at times. I enjoyed that the conversation (and the well-spoken guest) freely embraced the plainly 'erotic' side of the genre(s), without burying the discussion in various '-ist's' and '-ism's', making me feel like I'm back grad teaching a media/culture/gender studies class.
Can't say this is my particular brand of 'ero' of course, but it's nice to see the gals can enjoy the same kind of thrills today that guys have had access to in the medium for some time. Well, before 'Moe'/emotional harem came along anyway. *- Quick note, guy's being puzzled by the appeal of 'Yaoi' isn't always a particularly deep issue either. If you're a guy with a girlfriend/wife who has commented, in risque jest, about the proclivities of your mate with certain of her attractive friends, you've probably heard 'That's gross. Why do guy's like that? You don't see girls lusting after two guy's like that' with quite some frequency over the years. To suddenly find a group of women do indeed enjoy that very situation, after being told most of your post-15 male life that that's one of the major differences between gals and guy's sexual wishes, kind of creates a 'Say What!?' moment. If I find Santa Claus chowing down on leftovers from my fridge this Xmas, I may have to question everything TV has taught me. |
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Scalfin
Posts: 249 |
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You know, the body diversity might be a good indicator of why the gay porn for gays is more hardcore.
The gay readership probably doesn't look like the guys in the "yaui" (whatever) titles, so it makes sense that the characters marketed to them if one assumes that they are reading for a fantasy experience in which to insert themselves (no pun intended). Think of it as the gay porn equivalent of the "Joe Six Pack" talking point. Girls, on the other hand, could be hypothesized to be reading about ideal partners, which explains why they're so good looking. Using this hypothesis, it follows that the stuff for men is more likely to be a sex fantasy, as most people tend to dislike the idea of their partner participating in impromptu orgies, but wouldn't mind thinking of doing it themselves. |
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Dark Elf Warrior
 Posts: 228 |
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An interesting conversation.
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Cait
 Posts: 503 |
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I have noticed the older I get that I feel like the BL genre is catering to my interests less and less. I'm tired of the same old seme/uke roles with the older, taller, stronger and aggressive seme and the passive, shorter, effeminite uke. I've already started to gravitate towards the office romance and "buddy" titles in the BL genre with "adult" looking characters (ala Tateno, Kodaka, et al) and I have a feeling the more time passes the less BL titles I will be interested in entirely. I've avoided GloBL for the most part so far simply because I still prefer the aesthetic of the BL "style" (which is still close to the standards of regular shojo manga), but I can see a time in the future where I might abandon the genre altogether out of frustration.
I've read Tina's Only Words. It was interesting, but again, the art was different from what I am used to. I'd love to be able to put down money on sites like Netcomics and read the Yaoi Press titles online, but it's still a cost/benefit issue for me. I know what I am going to get (pretty much) when I look at the cover or read the description of a BL manga, or even manwha, but I have no idea what I might be putting my money in on with the GloBL stuff. Maybe the genre will take a better hold, stop tring to imitate "yaoi" and actually establish enough of a foothold in the US market to let prospective fans not only get used to it, but to find their own variety of taste as easily as it is to find it with BL now. |
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shinjukusomoding
Posts: 3 |
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MY EYEZ. THEY BURN LIKE THE FIRE OF A THOUSAND SUNS
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fuuma_monou
 Posts: 1862 Location: Quezon City, Philippines |
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Abby Denson's comic Tough Love was inspired by BL, but it was published in a gay magazine, XY. Really ought to read it.
Just read Fumi Yoshinga's Don't Say Any More, Darling. Best story in the book isn't even yaoi. Was pleasantly surprised to see Bambi Eloriaga's name in the credits. |
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johnmora
Posts: 75 |
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Yaoi isn't about two men in a romantic relationship. It's about a man and a man with the mind of a woman in a romantic relationship. As a gay man, the ultra pretty, skinny, effeminate aesthetic of yaoi is just obnoxious and playing to inaccurate stereotypes. "Bara" has a cornucopia of physiques and attitudes, and can actually have really touching emotions and relationships. It's just tough to do because most don't develop into series, so they only have 20-30 pages to get a whole story in. I wish some of this would get published in America, so I could support the artists with my money AND enjoy the manga fully.
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fuuma_monou
Posts: 1862 Location: Quezon City, Philippines |
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Some yaoi artists have also done "men's love" stories for gay men. Est Em has characters who actually look masculine. |
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Applepear
Posts: 2 |
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I also grew out of yaoi. When I first hit puberty, aka 10-13 they were really good looking and I used to read all that stuff, but now--I still like m/m, just not anime m/m. If that makes sense. I don't think it has much to do with the genre not being creative enough, just that when you're little having crushes on cartoon guys is fine, but when you get older it just feels goofy.
Umm, you can say that (ultra pretty, skinny, effeminate) about girls/women in yuri/straight manga, you don't see me complaining. Shit, I don't even think there is a "bara" equivalent for females, with "diverse body types" or whatever. That's just part of erotic stuff, it's not supposed to be realistic. Doesn't mean you should offended by it. I'll go one step further and say females basically are shown that way almost everywhere, so complaining when females do it back is just being dumb, imo. |
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fuuma_monou
Posts: 1862 Location: Quezon City, Philippines |
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Men objectifying women is everywhere in the media, so women objectifying ("gay") men is perfectly justified. Congratulations for Not Getting It. Also, I don't know too many women who like being called "females" as if they were just animals, open to exploitation by men. |
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bahamut623
 Posts: 1463 |
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To make it even simpler, I'd say it's not so much self-insertion (we REALLY need to find another phrase, at least just for this thread lol) or anything like that, it's just the fact that the guys in bara don't look like women. |
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Beryl7
 Posts: 73 |
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This whole thing is making me ashamed to be a chick.
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