Origins of the Shonen-ai and Yaoi Manga Genres

Abstract

This article discusses mainly the works of Japanese manga authors of the 1970s - Takemiya Keiko and Hagio Moto, who created the manga genre shōnen-ai (boys’ love). This manga genre, intended for female audiences and developed in Japan, had been considerably influenced by European art, especially by French literature and cinema. Such films as “This Special Friendship” (1964) or works of Jean Cocteau and other French writers formed a special aesthetics of manga about beautiful boys who love each other.

Keywords

• aesthetic fiction
• female comics
• japanese literature
• french art
• homoeroticism
• manga
• shonen-ai
• yaoi
• year 24 group