In Japan, that wouldn't be the case. For two reasons.
First, the word yaoi isn't really common in Japan. When fans of gay fiction, instead.
Second, the original, historic counterpart of the yuri 百合 genre would be the yuri means "lily," a flower, and the word bara means "rose," another flower. So in their names you can already see they're related.
However, note that bara is targeted at gay men, which is a minority of the population. So, in practice, the counterpart of yuri, in Japan, would really be BL, since its audience is larger.
Yuri vs. Shoujo-ai
The different between yuri andIn the west, shoujo-ai is a genre of manga and anime. It refers to female homosexual romance. If there's some lesbian love going on, but no sex, it's called shoujo-ai. If there's sex, if it's pornographic, then it's called yuri. So in simple terms shoujo-ai is the non-porn version of yuri.
In Japanese, things get messy. For one, in the manga world, shoujo-ai is synonymous with yuri. This means that, unlike in the west, Japanese shoujo-ai may or may not be pornographic, since yuri also may or may not be pornographic, unlike yuri in the west.
However, in Japanese the term shoujo-ai is basically not used. The term yuri is preferred at all times. So shoujo-ai practically doesn't exist as a genre in Japanese. It's just an obscure synonym for yuri.
ALSO!!!!
You really should avoid saying shoujo-ai if you talk to someone in Japanese.
Because shoujo-ai 少女愛 also means "love for (underage) girls." A shoujo-ai-sha 少女愛者 is literally a "pedophile" in Japanese. In this sense the term shoujo-ai is closer to lolicon ロリコン than to yuri.
So to avoid risking misunderstandings, it's better to say yuri, or GL, in Japanese.
Yuri vs. GL
GL is often synonymous with yuri.The word GL stands for "Girls' Love," or written with katakana gaaruzu rabu ガールズラブ. Translated to Japanese using actual Japanese words, "girls' love" would be shoujo ai 少女愛.
It seems that after the term BL, "Boys' Love," became popular, authors began using the term GL as a counterpart of BL. There are other abbreviations, such as ML, NL and TL, which can be found in the article about BL.
Some Say...
The difference between yuri and GL seems complicated at best.For most, it seems to be the exact same thing, synonymous
But for some, GL is yuri targeted at men, since yuri was originally targeted at women. For some others GL is targeted at women, since yuri made for men have been becoming more and more common.
Some say that yuri includes themes like pornography, eroticism, while GL doesn't include them. Some say that yuri includes non-romantic relationships, that are just strongly emotional, while GL requires romance, "love."
Some say that yuri is closely tied to lesbians, so women who read it can identify themselves with the characters, while in GL they can only be spectators. Some say that GL is real romance while yuri is just constant flirting, and that somehow K-on!, the yonkoma manga, is yuri according to that definition.. so...
The takeaway here is people say a lot of things. Here's a Japanese thread with them saying it:
Despite some saying contradictory things and some saying their opinions and some guessing around, one thing that some say that can actually be taken for true is that: GL means "Girls' Love," in Japanese shoujo-ai 少女愛. The word shoujo 少女 refers to young, underage girls exclusively (mistake on their part, in English you can call an adult woman a "girl"). So some avoid using it because they want don't want to associate yuri with children.
Whether it makes sense or not ("girl" was misunderstood) doesn't matter. If some say they won't use the word because of this, then it's not "I think GL is...", a guess, it's factually "I won't say GL because..." A fact about themselves, and we can at least be sure they do know themselves, even if they don't know about GL. Anyway, it's a very annoying term.
In Japan, the termis often synonymous withThe wordstands for "Girls' Love," or written with katakanaガールズラブ. Translated to Japanese using actual Japanese words, "girls' love" would be少女愛.It seems that after the term, "Boys' Love," became popular, authors began using the termas a counterpart of. There are other abbreviations, such asand, which can be found in the article aboutThe difference betweenandseems complicated at best.For most, it seems to be the exact same thing, synonymousBut for some,istargeted at men, sincewas originally targeted at women. For some othersis targeted at women, sincemade for men have been becoming more and more common.Some say thatincludes themes like pornography, eroticism, whiledoesn't include them. Some say thatincludes non-romantic relationships, that are just strongly emotional, whilerequires romance, "love."Some say thatis closely tied to lesbians, so women who read it can identify themselves with the characters, while inthey can only be spectators. Some say thatis real romance whileis just constant flirting, and that somehow K-on!, themanga, isaccording to that definition.. so...The takeaway here is people say a lot of things. Here's a Japanese thread with them saying it: 百合とGLの違い...!? Despite some saying contradictory things and some saying their opinions and some guessing around, one thing that some say that can actually be taken for true is that:means "Girls' Love," in Japanese少女愛. The word少女 refers to young, underage girls(mistake on their part, in English you can call an adult woman a "girl"). So some avoid using it because they want don't want to associatewith children.Whether it makes sense or not ("girl" was misunderstood) doesn't matter. If some say they won't use the word because of this, then it's not "I thinkis...", a guess, it's factually "I won't saybecause..." A fact about themselves, and we can at least be sure they do know themselves, even if they don't know about. Anyway, it's a very annoying term.
Who Likes Yuri?
Historically, yuri was a genre made "for women," josei-muke 女性向け. Just like BL. The first yuri works were published in magazines targeted at women.Before yuri was a word, the term esu エス, from the English "S," were abbreviations of kurasu S クラスS, literally "class S," and these words all referred to fiction dealing with schoolgirls (hence "class" of classroom) who had deep emotional bonds with each other.
These works of fiction usually had a girls-only school setting, that is, no boys anywhere, which allowed those girl x girl relationships to flourish with ease. This setting is still common in modern yuri. Like most manga set on an all-girls school these works were targeted at "girls," they were shoujo 少女 manga. For example, they were like K-on!, a shoujo manga set in an all-girls school.
So even before yuri was a word, yuri was made for the female audience.
However, just because it's made for the female audience doesn't mean it's somehow invisible to the eyes of men. Apparently, men who like yuri have grown more and more common in Japan along the years. At first that must've been pretty hard, since the magazines which focused on yuri must've been alienating men in general, but once their male costumers grew, they were recognized.
The yuri magazines stopped trying to be female-only, thanks to that men who wouldn't buy them before because they looked like women stuff started buying them. And before anybody knows it, it looks like yuri is made for men.
Another thing to note is that male x male fiction, BL, is made for women. So if we were to mirror things, female x female fiction, yuri, ought to be made for men.
According to some online survey, most yuri consumers, male and female, don't really care who the main audience of yuri is.
Yuri Shipping
Fans of manga and anime, specially of the shoujo genre, will sometimes fantasize about female characters of a given series somehow falling in love with each other. Such practice is called "shipping."These fantasies of lesbian ships give birth to derivative stories, known in the west as femslash fanfiction, featuring lesbian couples of practically always originally straight characters. And, of course, lesbian fanart, and pornographic lesbian fanart, also called
In Japan literally the same stuff happen, because apparently shipping is an universal concept. The only thing that changes is that over there on top of drawing and stories of given characters, there are also many
In Japanese, a given ship, pairing or couple is called CP. It stands for "coupling." In Japanese it's also said as and kappuringu カップリング.
Seme-Uke in Yuri
Fans of yaoi and BL put ridiculous amounts of importance on in their ships, but the yuri fandom doesn't pay as much attention. Maybe because seme and uke are terms used to describe who's top and who's bottom in a gay relationship, and two women in a lesbian couple happen to be penis-less, so there's no way that should make sense.But, however, in a yuri couple, the character which acts more like a "boyfriend" gets labeled as seme. This is often the one which takes a more assertive approach to flirting, but not necessarily. And, apparently, the appearance of the character can also be used to tell the reader who is seme and who is uke.
Like in the BL fandom, in yuri when describing couples the seme always comes first. So in A x B, A is seme. And in B x A, A is uke.
Note that, in the he Japanese LGBT world, in a lesbian couple, and, by extension, in a yuri couple, the seme and uke are actually called tachi タチ and neko ネコ. And these terms, tachi and neko, which were used exclusively for lesbian relationships, have recently come to be used in male gay relationships too.
In other words, tachi-neko is used in real life, while seme-uke are terms used in fiction, mostly by fujoshi with BL shipping.
The Pixiv dictionary entry on doujinshi world many yuri artists are not lesbians, but "straight" people, nonke ノンケ. Since they aren't LGBT, they don't know of the tachi-neko LGBT terms. Probably, the yuri fans and authors who do care about seme-uke in their yuri couples just sort of borrowed these words from the BL fandom because they didn't know of the tachi and neko terms the LGBT people would use.
In the west, the counterpart of百合, lesbian hentai, is yaoi やおい , gay hentai.In Japan, that wouldn't be the case. For two reasons.First, the wordisn't really common in Japan. When fans of gay fiction, fujoshi 腐女子 , refer to gay fiction, they often use the terminstead.Second, the original, historic counterpart of the百合 genre would be the bara 薔薇 genre. The wordmeans "lily," a flower, and the wordmeans "rose," another flower. So in their names you can already see they're related.However, note thatis targeted at gay men, which is a minority of the population. So, in practice, the counterpart of, in Japan, would really be, since its audience is larger.The different betweenand shoujo-ai 少女愛 is a pretty big one.In the west,is a genre of manga and anime. It refers to female homosexual romance. If there's some lesbian love going on, but no sex, it's called. If there's sex, if it's pornographic, then it's called. So in simple termsis the non-porn version ofIn Japanese, things get messy. For one, in the manga world,is synonymous with. This means that, unlike in the west, Japanesemay or may not be pornographic, sincealso may or may not be pornographic, unlikein the west.However, in Japanese the termis basically not used. The termis preferred at all times. Sopractically doesn't exist as a genre in Japanese. It's just an obscure synonym forYou really should avoid sayingif you talk to someone in Japanese.Because少女愛 also means "love for (underage) girls." A少女愛者 is literally a "pedophile" in Japanese. In this sense the termis closer toロリコン than toSo to avoid risking misunderstandings, it's better to say, or, in Japanese.Historically,was a genre made "for women,"女性向け. Just like. The firstworks were published in magazines targeted at women.Beforewas a word, the termエス, from the English "S," were abbreviations ofクラスS, literally "class S," and these words all referred to fiction dealing with schoolgirls (hence "class" of classroom) who had deep emotional bonds with each other.These works of fiction usually had a girls-only school setting, that is, no boys anywhere, which allowed those girl x girl relationships to flourish with ease. This setting is still common in modern. Like most manga set on an all-girls school these works were targeted at "girls," they were少女 manga. For example, they were like K-on!, amanga set in an all-girls school.So even beforewas a word,was made for the female audience.However, just because it's made for the female audience doesn't mean it's somehow invisible to the eyes of men. Apparently, men who likehave grown more and more common in Japan along the years. At first that must've been pretty hard, since the magazines which focused onmust've been alienating men in general, but once their male costumers grew, they were recognized.Themagazines stopped trying to be female-only, thanks to that men who wouldn't buy them before because they looked like women stuff started buying them. And before anybody knows it, it looks likeis made for men.Another thing to note is that male x male fiction,, is made for women. So if we were to mirror things, female x female fiction,, ought to be made for men.According to some online survey, mostconsumers, male and female, don't really care who the main audience ofis.Fans of manga and anime, specially of thegenre, will sometimes fantasize about female characters of a given series somehow falling in love with each other. Such practice is called "shipping."These fantasies of lesbian ships give birth to derivative stories, known in the west as femslash fanfiction, featuring lesbian couples of practically always originally straight characters. And, of course, lesbian fanart, and pornographic lesbian fanart, also called hentai 変態 In Japan literally the same stuff happen, because apparently shipping is an universal concept. The only thing that changes is that over there on top of drawing and stories of given characters, there are also many doujinshi 同人誌 featuring said characters.In Japanese, a given ship, pairing or couple is called. It stands for "ouling." In Japanese it's also said as andカップリング.Fans ofandput ridiculous amounts of importance on seme 攻め and in their ships, but thefandom doesn't pay as much attention. Maybe becauseandare terms used to describe who's top and who's bottom in a gay relationship, and two women in a lesbian couple happen to be penis-less, so there's no way that should make sense.But, however, in acouple, the character which acts more like a "boyfriend" gets labeled as. This is often the one which takes a more assertive approach to flirting, but not necessarily. And, apparently, the appearance of the character can also be used to tell the reader who isand who isLike in thefandom, inwhen describing couples thealways comes first. So in A x B, A is. And in B x A, A isNote that, in the he Japanese LGBT world, in a lesbian couple, and, by extension, in acouple, theandare actually calledタチ andネコ. And these terms,and, which were used exclusively for lesbian relationships, have recently come to be used in male gay relationships too.In other words,is used in real life, whileare terms used in fiction, mostly bywithshipping.The Pixiv dictionary entry on レズビアン notes that in theworld manyartists are not lesbians, but "straight" people,ノンケ. Since they aren't LGBT, they don't know of theLGBT terms. Probably, thefans and authors who do care aboutin theircouples just sort of borrowed these words from thefandom because they didn't know of theandterms the LGBT people would use.
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