In English, shoujo-ai is a genre of lesbian fiction. Any manga or anime focused on the romantic relationship of a girl with another girl falls in this genre. In Japanese, the word means "pedophilia" instead.

Its gay counterpart is shounen-ai.

In English, shounen-ai is a genre of gay fiction. Any manga or anime focused on the romantic relationship of guy with another guy falls in this genre. In Japanese, the word means "pedophilia" instead.

Its lesbian counterpart is shoujo-ai.

You may have heard words seme and uke before, they're two related terms used to describe the roles of characters in gay fiction, mostly gay fanfics, with their gay ships. But what does seme and uke mean? What's the difference between a seme and an uke? And what does seme and uke mean in Japanese?

• Definition
• Seme vs. Uke Characters
• How to Decide
• Origin & Japanese Meaning
• Japanese Usage
• Importance in Shipping
• Types of Seme and Uke
• Usage in Yuri Ships
• Usage in Straight Ships
• LGBT Criticism
• Tachi タチ & Neko ネコ

In Japanese, bara 薔薇 means "rose," the flower. In the English anime fandom, bara typically refers to a genre of gay drawn pornography (hentai) featuring muscular, overweight, or hairy men. It's also spelled バラ, ばら.

In anime, yuri 百合, meaning literally "lily," the flower, refers to lesbian fiction. In Japanese, yuri is lesbian fiction in general. In English yuri is normally lesbian hentai (drawn pornography), its gay counterpart is yaoi. The term originates as a counterpart of bara 薔薇, "rose," another gay genre. Sometimes, Yuri, or Yuuri, is somebody's name instead. It's also spelled ユリ, ゆり.

In Japanese, BL is a genre of gay fiction, specially manga, anime, and doujinshi 同人誌 that focus on a gay romantic or sexual relationship and targets a female audience (e.g. shoujo 少女), as opposed to bara 薔薇, that targets a male, gay audience. An erotic, plot-less sub-genre is yaoi やおい. Rarely, it means "to be gay" instead. BL is an acronym standing for "Boys' Love," booizu rabu ボーイズラブ. It's pronounced bii-eru びーえる.

In English, yaoi やおい is gay drawn pornography (hentai). Any manga, anime, doujinshi, or fanfic with explicit gay sex is yaoi, although sometimes the term is used more generally toward any gay scenarios. Gay romance for general audiences is sometimes called shounen-ai. The lesbian counterpart is yuri 百合. In Japanese, gay fiction is called BL (Boys' Love), and yaoi is a sub-genre of BL without plot, originally fan works without plot. It stands for Yama nashi Ochi nashi Imi nashi ヤマなしオチなしイミなし, "without climax, punch-line or meaning." It can also be spelled with numbers, as 801.

In the western anime fandom, hentai means drawn porn, while, in Japanese, hentai 変態 means a "pervert," or more literally something that's been "perverted" in the sense of changed.

• In The West
  
  • Sub-Genres
• In Japanese
  
  • ド変態
  • Examples
  • Kanji
  • "Transformation"
• Equivalent of "Hentai" in Japanese
  
  • Doujinshi vs. Hentai