Comics - David Thompson samples the latest Japanese invasion - gay manga

Ah, the baffling delights of Japanese pop culture. Those feverish imaginations brought us a radioactive, fire-breathing monster called Godzilla and the infinitely collectable cuddly toy franchise Pokemon. That same inscrutable intelligence also unleashed "Hello Kitty" badges, keyrings and pencil cases on to an unsuspecting world. And now another slice of Japanese pop culture, perhaps the most unnerving yet, has arrived in Britain.

Already causing a stir in publishing circles in the US, the Japanese manga publisher Tokyo-pop will soon be raising British eyebrows with two new manga genres, both of which deal with same-sex love stories. Given the sanctimonious furore that met the recent publication of Marvel Comics' Rawhide Kid, a gay western series, these new lines might seem controversial. However, Tokyopop's senior editor Jake Forbes disagrees: "If the trem-endous positive response from the fan community is any indication, then we made the right choice . . ." With Tokyo-pop's sales doubling every year, many publishers will be watching this latest Japanese invasion closely.

If the manga aesthetic resists adequate explanation, or, in some cases, comprehension, British publishers might note that a vast and previously unrecognised market is being revealed - the insatiable appetite among teenage girls for the genre known as "shonen-ai". For those unfamiliar with the arcane world of manga classification, shonen-ai are gay male romances in comic-book form. To add to the pan-sexual confusion, shonen-ai titles are predominantly written by straight women and bought (in huge numbers) by straight teenage girls. Japanese bookshops typically stock shonen-ai in sections labelled "ladies' fanzines".

Despite being marketed as "provocative", the shonen-ai manga are a little too cloying and prosaic seriously to titillate anyone but the most sensitised fetishist. While the books and films are certainly full of pretty youths with button noses, angular chins and huge saucer eyes, the sexual content is generally slight or incidental. The nearest analogy I can suggest is that of a comic-book boy band, but with more kissing between band members.

Jake Forbes attempts to explain this phenomenon: "Shonen-ai literally means 'boy love'. What it means is that the romance is of a boy-on-boy nature, though typically the comics are not very explicit. It's often implied romance or simply touching, maybe some kissing, too. Shonen-ai manga isn't created by or written for gay people. It's taking two pretty boys and removing the girl from the romance. Often it's a female fantasy romance, more than a realistic gay one." Indeed, despite what Forbes describes as "romantic petting", the general tone of shonen-ai is far removed from sexuality. It's more like a never-ending sigh. (Think of late 1970s teenage magazine photo stories, but exclusively male and slightly more stylish.)

One bestselling example of the shonen-ai formula is Maki Murakami's Gravitation, a tale of two high-school youths and their efforts to break into the music industry. Again, the emphasis is on the duo's career struggles and setbacks, rather than on their more intimate endeavours. Perhaps such sexual understatement is no surprise, given the book's "13-plus" classification. (Helpfully, each Tokyopop title carries a readers' age rating on its cover.)

There are, as you might expect, manga titles aimed at an older readership. The more explicit yaoi (pronounced "yah-oh-ee") genre caters for those aged 16 and above - but, despite a cult gay following, the books are still generally produced by women and bought primarily by teenage girls. Currently topping the yaoi sales chart is Sanami Matoh's Fake, the cover blurb of which tells you pretty much all you need to know: "Meet Ryo and Dee, two New York City cops with an attraction for action - and for each other!" A companion anime (animated movie) is also available.

Significantly, yaoi evolved from the shoujo Japanese girls' comics of the 1970s, and the term yaoi is an acronym for "yama-nashi, ochi-nashi, imi-nashi", a phrase that could literally be translated as: "no climax, no resolution, no meaning" - a reference to the stories' wistful air and open-ended format. Another, more recent influence is "slash fiction", the transgressive internet form in which familiar characters from TV and film are placed in new, and largely sexual, configurations. The majority of yaoi manga are still doujinshi - slash variations of existing mainstream characters - and countless doujinshi websites cater to this enthusiasm.

Venturing much deeper into adult territory are the hentai manga, with titles that are clearly intended to function as illustrated stroke books. Catering to more, er, specialised tastes, hentai yaoi are not be confused with Tokyopop's mainstream output. As with the less explicit shonen-ai, gay hentai feature the obligatory pretty boys with button noses, angular chins and huge saucer eyes, but are much more sexually explicit.

One final word of warning. All of Tokyo-pop's titles are published in the original "authentic manga" format, and so they read from right to left and back to front. Which, for the first few pages at least, can make things even more confusing.

Maki Murakami's Gravitation and Sanami Matoh's Fake are published by Tokyopop, priced £6.99 (020 8960 5855)

Post your comment

Please note: you will need to login or register before you can comment on the website