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Yaoi is a popular term for female-oriented fictional media that focus on homoerotic or homoromantic male relationships, usually created by female authors. Originally referring to a specific type of dōjinshi parody of mainstream anime and manga works, yaoi came to be used as a generic term for female-oriented manga, anime, dating sims, novels and dōjinshi featuring homosexual male relationships. Yaoi began in the dōjinshi markets of Japan in the late 1970s/early 1980s as an outgrowth of shonen-ai. BL (Boys Love, another term for yaoi) creators and fans are careful to distinguish the genre from “gay manga,” which are created by and for gay men. The main characters in BL usually conform to the formula of the seme who pursues the uke.
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