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I think 2 people liked my reply talking about ML/Men’s Love:
If you don’t know what it is, it’s a term for Gay Comics (ゲイコミクス), known mostly as Bara in the west.
If you don’t know what it is, it’s a term for Gay Comics (ゲイコミクス), known mostly as Bara in the west.
I can’t remember the tumblr, but I follow a blog about Yuri comics that mentioned the history of these types of comics, “Bara” coming from “Barazoku” (don’t remember translation)
Barazoku was the name of a magazine that published comics by and for gay men in Japan and they would occasionally feature Yuri (this is also shortened, but I forgot the word for it), comics made by and for gay women.
Comics made by and for men who like men became known as “Bara”, but in Japan, there was a time when this became a homophobic slur and, from my understanding, still is.
And since Yaoi is, by and for women, often called BL/Boy’s Love, often featuring teens and young adults, the comics the men made started being called ML/Men’s Love, often featuring more mature looking characters, and is often just called “gay comics”.
“Bara” is seen as offensive in Japan nowadays, most likely the reason for the name change, but that switch didn’t really happen in the west yet.
This thread is also an amalgamation of the Yuri review blog I mentioned, some YouTube videos, and a bunch of articles about gay comics in Japan.
Side Note: ML also tends to be more sexually graphic than Yaoi from what I can tell. I’ve yet to read any myself, but I’ve had my eye on Priappus. Also, there’s no official English translation for it, so try not to buy Amazon’s copy of it or any English copy—
—until the artist releases one himself. But since I know y’all are gonna look it up and buy/read literally any translation, make sure to send like at least $20 to the artist when you do. AFAIK he’s indie (maybe?) and art theft isn’t cool.
I know I’ve read pirated manga before, but I also mostly read manga I was already spending money on via official merch etc (and will spend more on in the future lol)
Or you can buy like idk 2 copies from the artist himself if you buy and unofficial English copy?
