Discussion Bara

[Asclepius]

Welcome to the Bara discussion thread

So, everyone that has been reading Boys Love mangas for one or more years have heard about Bara at some point. It is a subdivision of BL theorically directed to men, but of course it is also apreciated by girls.

Bara usually shows men more masculine, having big muscles/hairy body or not, but avoiding the classic bishonen style. It also doesn't obey to the hight rule, the tallest guy isn't always the seme.

[hrbb]-[/hrbb]

Feel free to discuss your fav series. You can discuss what you like or hate about Bara.
I will be reading titles to test my taste and i will report here.

 

[Teeba]

I have been really curious about bara! I didn't know there was enough interest for people to be Editing them, though. What titles will you be reading?

 

[Asclepius]

I'm reading The man of Tango by Tetuzoh Okadaya and it's hard cause there is no comedy so far and one of the things i LOVE in Boys' Love is the comedy. I'm still on chapter 1 cause the development is very slow. Comedy also helps to concentrate.
No bishies, really. The bodies are well drawn, but i'm not into Toriko-like characters and all the time the traces make me think in Toriko and DBZ with the big muscles.

Next ones on the list:
- Partners by Yura Tamaki
- New York, New York
- Doushitemo Furetakuna
- Otona no Mondai

 

[kannazuki]

I've been curious about this genre for some time now. Has anyone read any other bara stuff since this thread started?

 

[Asclepius]

I've been curious about this genre for some time now. Has anyone read any other bara stuff since this thread started?

Sorry, I haven't. I'm a really slow reader.
And i dropped that Tango one cause i really didn't like it. It doesn't get better.
I mean, i see no comedy and no drama that touches my heart in the story.

 

[kannazuki]

Haha no worries. I'll surely check it out sooner or later. I was just wondering if someone had any recommendations.

A lot of BL falls into those seme/uke, feminized/boyish men stereotypes and that's not what I want to read, but at the same time I do want fluffiness and romance so I think my tastes kind of span both genres. I've always thought it would be nice to find stuff from one, the other, or both that had the best of both worlds (for me, at least).

 

[digitaldude]

I've been curious about this genre for some time now. Has anyone read any other bara stuff since this thread started?

Kuso miso is something I think most people read, for laughs...

 

[Asclepius]

Kuso miso is something I think most people read, for laughs...

EW EW EW
It's not funny, it's disgusting.
That manga can never be recommended to anyone.

 

[Georgie]

Kuso miso is something I think most people read, for laughs...

LOL. I was bored and curious so I searched online and found this manga. L -O- L. Nothing shocked me but I found the narrative hilarious. I can't tell if the mangaka is serious or if it was a parody. It's like reading a really bad homoerotic fanfic written by a 16 year old girl who has no clue how gay sex works so she just copied and pasted stuff from other stories in her story. Again, LOL.

 

[kannazuki]

Well anyone know of any bara with actual romantic themes?

 

[windy van]

^^ Umm.. Actually I never search for Bara.. When I found something looks interesting I just give it a try..
That manly seme in Yaoi is enough for me..
But i've read one Bara before.. It's called Ookami Shounen to Hamu no Hito by Mentaiko..
www.mangaupdates.com/series.html?id=84363‎

It's short but somehow sweet.. Have you read it?

 

[kannazuki]

Sounds interesting. Is it 'school life' though (which I'm trying to avoid)? It's got a 'drinking party' in the description, yet 'school life' is one of the genres...?

btw rofl @ your sig!

 

[windy van]

No no no.. They are just graduated from high school..
Ow, you avoid school life? haha..

OMG you should know when i found that pic, i laughed a lot...
It's really funny, totally hilarious...

 

[kannazuki]

I prefer stories about characters in their 20s and not high school kids. For a number of reasons. If they're out of school I'll check that out anyway though, thanks.

(Weird though, I thought the legal drinking age was 20 in Japan...?)

 

[windy van]

Ow.. I also prefer manga with characters in their 20s, that's why basically i prefer josei to shoujo..
I can see your reasoning is about the same with me..

Yes, legal age for drinking in Japan is 20, they drink in their apartment so they could buy alcohol easily though..

Oops i forgot to warned you.. This one is explicit.. You read something like that?
Idk if Bara supposed to be explicit or not though.. I never really read this genre..

 

[kannazuki]

Oh I'm fine with it being explicit as long as they're not too young & as long as it's consensual.

 

[moniker]

I like Bara in a limited way since I'm uncomfortable to the idea if it's too much muscly.

I've been in love with Bara-like Yaoi characters since I the first time I discovered Yaoi.
I like my characters to be just the same height and just normal muscle body build.
Not too skinny and bishie yet not too muscly; Just the right and perfect mix amount of Bara and Yaoi.