What is bara manga?

Bara manga is a genre of Japanese manga and anime that mainly focuses on male homosexuality. Bara is often characterized by muscular, often hirsute, men who have a hypermasculine and dominant personality.

Unlike yaoi manga, which typically depicts romantic relationships between good-looking young men, bara manga often explores the sexual fantasies of gay men with a more mature, aggressive, and forceful tone. It can also include elements of BDSM, fetishism, and non-consensual sexual situations.

Bara manga was originally produced by amateur artists for gay men during the 1950s and 1960s. However, it has since become a mainstream genre, attracting thousands of fans worldwide, including heterosexual women.

Despite its popularity, bara manga has also been criticized for perpetuating negative stereotypes of gay men, such as portraying them as overly sexualized and promiscuous. However, others argue that it provides much-needed representation for the LGBTQ community in a predominantly heterosexual industry.