Definitions

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun slang, pornography, anime, manga A form of hentai involving two or more males in a homosexual relationship, primarily intended for a female audience.
  • noun slang, anime, manga A narrative or visual work featuring a romance or sexual relationship between two or more males, primarily intended for a female audience.

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Japanese やおい (yaoi), an abbreviation of "Yama nashi, ochi nashi, imi nashi" (ヤマなし、オチなし、意味なし (“no climax, no point, no meaning”)).

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Examples

  • "There is explicit sex in yaoi comics," Handley's attorney tells Kernes.

    Comics A.M. | The comics Internet in two minutes | Robot 6 @ Comic Book Resources – Covering Comic Book News and Entertainment 2009

  • [...] a beginner on how to get started in yaoi, and you may win a pair of Fumi Yoshinga manga from Manga Worth [...]

    Win Yoshinaga Yaoi! » Manga Worth Reading 2010

  • I’ve never heard of any of the creators involved (“Kometa Yonekura, Shiori Ikezawa, Haruki Fujimoto, Goroh, and many more!”), but the prospect of a book full of fan-created yaoi is too intriguing to pass up.

    25 « June « 2009 « The Manga Curmudgeon 2009

  • I’ve never heard of any of the creators involved (“Kometa Yonekura, Shiori Ikezawa, Haruki Fujimoto, Goroh, and many more!”), but the prospect of a book full of fan-created yaoi is too intriguing to pass up.

    June « 2009 « The Manga Curmudgeon 2009

  • I’ve never heard of any of the creators involved (“Kometa Yonekura, Shiori Ikezawa, Haruki Fujimoto, Goroh, and many more!”), but the prospect of a book full of fan-created yaoi is too intriguing to pass up.

    Previews review July 2009 2009

  • Josei is in less demand than yaoi, which is less popular than Bleach or Naruto.

    More Thoughts on Free Online Manga Distribution » Manga Worth Reading 2010

  • The concept of a sexual fantasy for girls where no girl is actually receiving sex isn't new -- Japan's been making boatloads of money off of boyxboy porn by and for women (known as yaoi or BL (Boys Love) over here) for more than 20 years, and in a comics market with a much, much more developed "porn for girls" industry than we have in the West.

    FlickFilosopher.com 2009

  • One of the sub-strains of Japanese manga and anime is known as yaoi and it refers to porn about gay men, usually bishounen (androgynous pretty boys).

    MetaFilter 2009

  • In yaoi, which is by and for women, effeminacy was very much in style in the earlier years of the genre but has since faded a bit in favor of a thin, clean, but decidedly more male type of man.

    FlickFilosopher.com 2009

  • Chocolate Surprise, by Lily Hoshino (Deux): I swear someone told me that Hoshino created the kind of yaoi that I like – character-driven and emotionally grounded.

    April « 2009 « The Manga Curmudgeon 2009

Comments

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  • A Japanese fiction genre intended for girls and women, based on stories of very idealized and stereotyped romance between men.

    January 27, 2009