Frequently Asked Questions

1. What is yaoi?
"Yaoi" is the Western term for a Japanese genre of manga and anime, which focuses on romantic relationships between men, created by women for a female audience. "Yaoi" is an acronym word for the Japanese phrase "yama nashi, ochi nashi, imi nashi," or, "no peak, no point, no meaning." Western fans have taken this acronym and applied it to all anime, manga and fanworks which involve male characters in romantic situations. However, Japanese writers and artists often use the term "BL" or "boys' love," which means the same thing as Western fans' use of "yaoi."

2. What is shounen-ai? Is it different from yaoi?
"Shounen-ai" means "boy love," literally. In Western fandom, shounen-ai is often used to denote softer stories without sex involved, while "yaoi" is used to denote harder, sexual stories. "Shounen-ai" is no longer used in Japan to refer to modern boys' love. It refers solely to an older genre of boys' love stories, such as Kaze to Ki no Uta, which are no longer written.

To avoid confusion, Boys on Boys on Film uses the terms "boys' love" or "BL" to refer to all material with male/male romantic themes. Since this site is about Japanese BL, we use the terms that the Japanese do.

3. What is slash?
Slash is a similar Western phenomenon to yaoi, in which fans of certain TV shows, books and movies created fanworks in which male characters were paired together in romantic or sexual situations. It is called "slash" because of the "/" mark between the names of the characters. "Kirk/Spock," for example, indicates the characters being slashed together. Generally, the character before the slash is the one on top, and the character after the slash is the one on the bottom. "Yaoi" is often used when the source material is Asian, while "slash" is used when the source material is Western.

4. How do you know if something is BL or not?
It can be hard to tell! Some anime and manga have very beautiful male characters (bishounen) who seem to have romantic relationships that are hinted at. Additionally, many anime fans -- both Western and Japanese! -- like to take non-BL anime characters and "slash" them together. The best way to tell is to look at the source material. If the source focuses on the romantic or sexual relationship between the lead male characters, then it's a BL series. Still, there are plenty of series, such as Descendants of Darkness, which defy categorization.

5. Is yaoi about gay men? Is it made for gay men?
No. Yaoi is created by women, for a female audience. Gay men usually enjoy different things than female yaoi fans, and though sometimes those interests intersect, almost all Japanese boys' love works are created by women.

Sometimes the central characters are gay. Sometimes they have never even thought about a man in a sexual way. There are many different ways to write a BL story!

1. Who runs this site?
Wiggle is the webmaster and sole proprietor of Boys on Boys on Film. Many friends and visitors have provided the reviews, but they are not part of running the site. The reviewers' opinions are not always Wiggle's opinions, but she welcomes all viewpoints!

2. Who writes the reviews?
Wiggle has written some of the reviews, and the rest are written by people who visit the site and want to contribute.

3. What kinds of reviews do you accept?
Any BL anime or any anime which features slashable male characters is welcome to be reviewed. We also accept reviews for BL manga and novels which has been released in English. Reviews of international gay films, and yaoi games released in English are also accepted. We do not accept reviews for Japanese-language manga, or non-yaoi manga released in English, at this time. If you aren't sure if a manga is eligible or not, please contact Wiggle.

4. How come you don't have my favorite anime or manga on the site?!
Wiggle has not personally seen or read every anime or manga out there. She can't possibly review everything! Reviews are submitted by visitors to the site. The lists of anime and manga on the site are only the list of reviews we have -- not the list of every yaoi or slashable anime or manga in the world! If you want to see your favorite title on the site, please write a review for it!

5. What are fansubs?
Fansubs are fan-subtitled anime which have been translated, subtitled, and distributed by fans to other fans. Some are still distributed via VHS or DVD, but most are now distributed in AVI digital format over the Internet. There are many ways to find and access these files. Wiggle offers many titles via a pay-for-download service called Streamload. Fansubs can also be directly downloaded over IRC, or through a program called BitTorrent.

6. Can you teach me how to get fansubs in IRC or BitTorrent?
Check out our Guide to Downloading for information about these methods.

7. What is the difference between a licensed and an unlicesned title?
Licensed titles, either anime or manga, have been chosen by a U.S. licensing company for release with an English translation. Unlicensed titles have only been commercially released in Japan. If a title has been licensed for U.S. distribution, Boys on Boys on Film will cease distribution of the fansub copy. We do not support fansubs or DVD rips of unlicensed titles. Please buy the licensed commercial release and support the original creator!

8. Where can I get a copy of the series you review?
On every single review page, look for a section called "Where to Get It." This will provide either a link to buy the title on Amazon.com, or instructions on how to find the unlicensed fansub copy of the anime.

1. What is Streamload's MediaMax?
Streamload -- now called MediaMax -- is a pay-for-download service that allows you to download files for a very low price. Please see www.mediamax.com for details about the service.

2. How many files can I request?
As many as you like! There are no limits on the number of files you can ask for.

3. Can you answer my questions about how to use MediaMax?
No. Streamload's web site has an excellent help section. They can explain their service much better.

4. Can you email these files to me?
No. Most anime episodes are over 150 Megabytes, which is much more than most email services allow as an attatchment.