Glossary

Last Updated on Friday, 30 January 2009 03:02 Written by aarinfantasy

Yaoi From ‘yama-nashi’ (without a climax), ‘ochi-nashi’ (without a conclusion) and ‘imi-nashi’ (without content). Originally emerged as a sub genre of shoujo, yaoi stories involve sex between men (homosexual content). Yaoi tends to involve graphic sex, often with little or no plot and focuses on the passionate and physical side of the relationship. It is incorrectly and commonly used as a synonym of ‘shounen-ai’.

Shounen-Ai From shounen (men), ai (love). Love stories between men. These kind of stories don’t necessarily involve sex situations because they are more focused on the characters’ feelings. This genre is created by and for women and was not originally intended for the gay market.

Angst/Anguish Yaoi fanfics, usually with lemon scenes and a sad storyline. May have a gloomy ending.

Bishounen/Bishonen From bi (beauty) and shounen (boy) also called 'bishie' is an attractive male character. The stereotype shows bishounen with androgynous features such as long hair and slender, hairless bodies. Bishounen will usually be sensitive, refined and angsty.

Bishounen Manga/Series Stories with bishounen as characters, not necessarily yaoi. As an example: Weib Kreuz.

Boy’s Love (BL) Synonym for shounen-ai.

June Name of the first magazine, published in 1978, with yaoi content. It was another term for ‘yaoi’, which is now in disuse because it is a trademark name.

Lemon/Lemonade Name given to sex scenes and sex situations. It goes from soft sex to pornographic content. This term was created after a Hentai anime called “Cream Lemon”.

Lime/Lemonish The soft version of the lemon. Shows non-explicit sex scenes/situations.

Reversible Character Name given to yaoi characters who, because of their nature, can be labelled as both seme and uke. Usually these kind of characters will change depending on their partners. As an example, Hyoga from Saint Seiya can be Ikki’s uke but when he is with Shun he’ll become a seme.

Seme The dominant character role in a shounen- ai/yaoi story. This character is generally more mature and strong willing, controls the situations and is taller than his partner (see Height Rule). During intercourse the seme is the one on top.

Shota Yaoi stories where one of the characters in the relationship is a young, underage male. Sometimes involving sexual relationships. Female shota is called ‘Lolli’. Note: The legal age of consent in Japan is 13, so shota is totally legal in Japan. In some western countries shota might be considered child porn.

Shotacon Stands for ‘Shotaru Complex’ in Japanese and refers to yaoi pairings between an adult male and an underage boy. Male version of Lolikon.

Siyohin Yaoi stories made by fans or professionals that involve characters from a non-yaoi manga/series. See doujinshis.

The Height Rule “In a yaoi relationship the taller is supposed to be the seme and the shorter the uke.” This rule is especially useful in siyohin doujinshis when two characters’ roles in the yaoi context are not completely defined.

Uke From the Japanese verb 'ukeru' (to receive). It is the passive main role in a yaoi story. Most of the time, the uke will be childish, more feminine, submissive, younger, shorter and less experienced than his partner. During intercourse he is ‘bottom’ in a yaoi pairing.

Not yaoi terms, but also useful to know:

CD Drama Compact disc with dialogue and sound effects that tells a story commonly outside the storyline of a series/manga.

CD Single Audio CD with several musical tracks, usually the opening and ending theme songs of a particular series.

Doujinshi Means ‘fan comic’. Doujinshis are amateur manga publications of popular anime shows or published mangas, usually produced unofficially. Doujinshis can be made by their original authors when they try to explore a different storyline. Because of Japanese laws, doujinshis can be sold to the public not only in Japan but around the world.

Fanfic aka ‘fanfiction’. Fanfics are stories written by a fan about the characters and world in a series, usually without the original creator's permission.

Gekiga Japanese term for ‘Graphic Novel’. These are usually stand-alone comic titles that aren't part of a monthly series or OVA.

Illustration collection Book with illustrations from an artist or a specific series.

Josei Manga/Lady’s Comic Manga genre created for woman aged 18-30, especially housewives and office ladies (OLs).

Mangaka The person who draws/writes/creates the art for manga (comic strip).

OST Original Sound Track. CD with the music of a series. Sometimes there is an OST for each season of a series.

Seiyuu Name given in Japanese to the voice actors in an anime series.

Sukebe Japanese term for pornographic material.

Tankôbon Compilation volume of original stories or doujinshis.

Disclaimer

Aarinfantasy.com does not host any video, game, or manga files. We only contain links to other sites such as YouTube.com, MegaUpload.com, MySpace.com, video.Yahoo.com, etc. Aarinfantasy.com is not responsible for the copyright or legality of the content of other linked sites.For any DMCA issues, please click here.