Rural Dictionary

bara

"Bara" is short for "Barazoku", an influential Japanese gay magazine which shut down publication in late 2004. 2chan came up with the abbreviated name for their "gay art" imageboard (which has since been discontinued).

Western, gay male anime and manga fans then appropriated the word to contrast with yaoi. Both are homoerotic anime-style art; the difference is while yaoi is gay-male art produced by women for the consumption of women, bara is created by men, for men. Consequently, bara-style art tends toward more exaggerated, overtly masculine physiques and stereotypically masculine behavior.

Bara in this context has nothing to do with "rose", which is what the word means in Japanese.

Break me off a piece of that hawt Asuma bara action.

by Rockear January 2, 2007

957👍 136👎

bara

Any type of drawn pornography which exhibits very masculine-looking and usually muscular men (often hairy) in homoerotic situations. Popular artists include Takeshi Matsu and Gengoroh Tagame who often portrays "bara"-type men being tortured and physically abused, at times even including scenes that include rape. Basically, he mostly does BDSM bara.

Bara caters to those whose musculature preferences are at the much more brawny end of the spectrum, typically beyond a simple "toned" type.

The men in Bara, are what one would might likely refer to as a "bear" - but no hair necessary. Bara art/manga might also include men that are simply obese.

Storylines in bara manga often start out completely innocent, not hinting at overtly sexual themes or even sexual overtones, but following this they gradually escalate into more sexual situations.

Most fans and artists of Bara seem to be young gay men.

One board that exclusively hosts bara sharing activity is the /bara/ board at the Anonib website, which is currently relatively low in activity. It was formerly quite active, but when the site became closed for a fairly long period of time, baralovers found their homes elsewhere.