You’re such a nerd for putting anime with opening names corresponding to keywords in the script

um i read and watch bl bc i like watching cute gay men in love (im also lesbian so yea)

So are we pro straight men sexually harassing and fetishizing lesbians? Cause im on board!!

From my understanding of BL, Shounen AI and Yaoi after all my years, BL is mostly a blanket term, shounen ai is used for a bl that doesn’t depict any sexual relationships and usually is more about exploring being intimate w/o sex, and usually is between young teenage boys, Yaoi is used for any BL that usually is just porn without plot or porn with plot.

Its like, you like men but also you don't.

See, I like ice cream. But what could be better than ONE ice cream? Two ice creams.

23:53-25:01 is it!!!!

I don't know, something about to men making out got me acting up 💀 But also, I like feminine men and bl men are either usually vulnerable or horny. My vup of tea lol

As a gay guy and somebody who watches a shitload of anime; I've never once read yaoi or searched it out, in fact I find it quite odd

Goonettes. That's the short answer, it's because of goonettes.

Anime, Cartoon, Animation gets the most BL or Homosexual romance while Soap Operas and/or Telanovelas are the opposite. Why is one particular medium of media more inclined to have BL/MLM than compared the other?

When you are troubled, you shouldn’t run from it and focus on more “happy” things.

In short, it's the power of gaes

Thank you sm for the sociological approach, it's so true. I'm 36 and have read Yaoi since I'm 13, i kept understanding and hating the patriarchy more and more. Real men don't even appear attractive to me anybore after all they put me through, so I was confused if I don't like men, why I'm increasingly simping so hard for BL to the point I have the most positive feelings associated with. I'm also single for 7 years now and I don't miss anything bc BL/yaoi + my fantasies satisfied more of my needs for love than any relationship I ever had, which is crazy I know. It's not really about the intimacy but the longing for deep, equal, and dedicated relationships. That's why the writers have my utmost respect. They're basically saving me from starving. 💜

As a man, I do watch gl & bl anime and love it😊

I am actually non-binary, and didn't like the way, girls were portrait in Manga.

As a woman who enjoys BL, a large part of it for me is the power dynamics in the relationships. I know that a lot of times one of the boys is made to be more feminine and the more masculine one has more control and stuff, but even then, there's usually not as big of a power difference as between heterosexual couples. I've found that I really enjoy things like when the smaller man is in control, and enjoy things less when the standard hetero dynamic is there but it's 2 men. This is one of the reasons I don't really enjoy omegaverse, or guideverse or things like that. So yeah. BL has better power dynamics.

As a guy on why I like yaoi, curiosity got to me, and I couldn’t stop searching it up Now I’m gay living with my boyfriend

As a guy on why I like yaoi, curiosity got to me, and I couldn’t stop searching it up Now I’m gay living with my boyfriend

I read a lot of straight manga anf I really enjoy wholesome romance; my reason for reading BL is that it's often higher quality. Especially when it comes to adult content, it has nuances, het dynamics often depict a guy basically sexually assaulting and toying with a woman and call that romance.

I clicked just to say that the fact that 2 dead authors were the example on the thumbnail is funny

Former fanfic writer here. The reason I remember switching over from genteel sexual relationships to Yaoi I remember was due to the lack of strong female characters for the genres I wrote for. I mainly wrote for stories like Naruto and Digimon at the time, which both limited the range of pairings and lacked interesting female characters. So at one point I just started to pair the more interesting and developed male characters.

catering towards women = less sexualization sometimes so that chance we take we do

im not a girl and im not gay but i really like yaoi

Im into those too :3

As a gay man reading yaoi I've seen some wild male physiology.

BEFORE WE START WITH THE KUROSHITSUJI STUFF; it is mostly the anime that is fanservice and only fanservice. While the manga has it too, since Yana sensei herself is a fujoshi, it has a genuine story.

I might sound stupid but I like mm cuz I kind of get jealous of the female lead in straight romance. When I watch a drama or read a book, unconsciously I compare myself with the female lead and I realize I'm nothing like he so it makes me a bit sad and I know I'm never going to get someone like that so it makes me bitter. MM is escape for me. I get to watch the romance and I don't have to worry about the guys because they're gay

Did I ever watch Free? No. Do I still get lines from 50% Off stuck in my head??? For some reason, yes?

I think I liked yaoi as a young teenager because of gender envy…

I recommend Junjou Romantica and Sekaiichi Hatsukoi ❤

Escapism

In my personal opinion, I don’t think Hachiman’s behavior at the beginning of the series is wrong. People often label him as antisocial or someone who doesn’t talk much, but there’s more to his story. We know he carries some painful memories from the past. For instance, his classmates used to make fun of him for no reason, simply because he was a quiet kid. The light novel shows that he wanted to connect with them and talk about topics like anime, but they ignored him. He even gathered the courage to confess to a girl, only to be rejected, and the next day, everyone mocked him for it. When he entered high school, he genuinely wanted to start fresh, make friends, and create new memories. However, an accident kept him out of school for a while, and by the time he returned, social groups had already formed. For introverts like Hachiman, it’s incredibly difficult to fit into established cliques. Eventually, he lost hope and decided to protect his mental health by distancing himself from others. Despite this, we know he genuinely cares about people-he just doesn’t show it openly. He’s always quietly observing and understanding those around him. When he met people like Yukino, Yui, and Totsuka, he gradually started to let his guard down because they were good people with sincere intentions. I believe the message of the series is this: If you can’t find the right people or friends who truly accept you, don’t waste your energy chasing after others. But when you do find people with whom you can be vulnerable without fear of judgment, cherish them.

I will not listen to this. I cannot accept the fact this band is fictional lol

It’s fascinating to me that there’s academics running these studies, but it makes sense. Publishers would want to understand their readerbase so they can better cater to them, there’s probably a little funding for it

Crazy? I was crazy once

I've been theorizing for SO long why did I start bl. And I came to a conclusion I just don't like romance from a feminine perspective. And I'm kinda sure this is related to me being an aroace

I'm a girl asexual but it's I like guys not involving me. I didn't like possessiveness Sa in some YAOI

I just want to se love not sex lol

I used to love bl until i came across a very toxic comment section on a straight relationship. Funny enough the accounts bashing the straight relationship were the same praising a bl with the exact same dynamic. It was so shitty, I've stopped reading yaoi since then and stuck to shounen

You did not just make a video essay and then call it yah wee

Yaoi is read by many I have seen bi,gay,hetero woman,lesbian,aromantic even asexual people. The only people I didnt see was hetero men which is fair I guess. But it doesnt mean they dont exist. This is kind of interesting in so many levels.

11:32 Japanese “homosexual death” is not the same trope in western works. It is a derivative of popular “lovers sulclde” stores written from women in Edo period. Didn’t know if that was expanded upon

It’s cause they act like people, cause they have feelings,and aren’t just some stereotype that men think women want. specially the vulnerability of the whole thing, for both parties.

I watch a few of hetero romance my main reason is the dynamic and personality there something kind of unique dynamics and personality that the character carried(I only watch 4 BL series and 1 parody)

as a bisexual female BL fan - I don't know why, but BL makes me feel "warm and fuzzy" in ways that for some reason, for me anyway, hetero character relationships do not. I often feel almost nothing for them. It's not even about second-hand arousal, it just makes the happy chemical more - that's it. No idea why.

As a woman I think because it's not sexualise women like we can exprience in real life from some men. Not all. We can feel "safe" some way.

As aroace, i think ppl misinterpreted me when i said i like BL they think i'm fetishizing them in fact so many annoying straight girl is the culprit. Maybe it's sound exaggrating but bcs not be able to fall in love myself, it's hard to enjoy romance content even if i watch action/thriller and they add unnecessary romance i always skip/drop(especially if MC became dumb for love) but BL hit diff i enjoy BL bcs their plot are TOP NOTCH ngl the way their characters are written, no gender diff makes it easier bcs in str8 story makes woman so weak also i like it because mlm relationship can protect each other not it str8 which the girl who needs to be protected + the plot is so bland and always end up the same 😅 I never cry while reading str8 story but the pain that BL describe is such a thing maybe bcs falling in love is already *a sin* for them and they break the society in order to be w each other i think it's sincerly sweet, their Development too (i like GL but it's rare) ❤🧡💛💚💙💜 also i think bcs i'm queer and i love to see queer content is show up it brings me warm, to show to world that what's so wrong abt loving someone tho

I remember watching endless eight arc i watch the 1st episode of the arc and then the next ep I watched it but it has different detail until ep 5 I was pissed off and skip the 3 episode

I came across a bl accidentally though didn't know it was a bl I loved the plot and storyline and by the time I reached almost the finish of the comic I unknowingly preferred to read comics containing bl and yeah now I really love bl stories because I feel like they focus more on their emotions more then hetero and has some kinda vulnerability but yeah I do read and watch everything and am very open minded but prefer bl over everything ❤