Yaoi, also known as boys' love and its abbreviation BL, is a genre of fictional media originating in Japan that features homoerotic relationships between male characters. It is typically created by women for women and is thus distinct from bara, a genre of homoerotic media marketed to gay men, though yaoi does also attract a male audience and can be produced by male creators. Yaoi spans a wide range of media, including manga, anime, drama CDs, novels, video games, television series, films, and fan works. While "yaoi" is commonly used in the west as an umbrella term for Japanese-influenced media with male-male relationships, "boys' love" and "BL" are the generic terms for this kind of media in Japan and much of Asia.
Manhwa is the general Korean term for comics and print-cartoons. Outside Korea, the term usually refers to South Korean comics. Manhwa is directly influenced by Japanese Manga comics. Modern Manhwa has extended its reach to many other countries. These comics have branched outside of Korea by access of Webtoons and have created an impact that has resulted in some movie and television show adaptations.
Tina Anderson is an American comics writer. She creates gay comics and women's yaoi, or Boys' Love. Anderson coined the term "GloBL" to encourage fans of yaoi/BL to think about implications of a BL aesthetic outside of Japanese culture. Anderson has written graphic novels and short stories that are included in collections from various publishers such as Class Comics, Yaoi Press, Sin Factory, DramaQueen, and Iris Print. Anderson stated in a November 2010 interview that 2011 would be her final year writing homoerotic graphic novels. Collected episodes of Anderson's online science fiction serial Femitokon debuted in December 2020 as an original English-language light novel called Suffocation.
Lies & Kisses is a one-shot yaoi manga by Masara Minase. It has been published in English by the American company DramaQueen, and in German by Carlsen. Lies & Kisses is one of many manga now reaching commercial success that contains the theme of incest. It is a great example of how the taboos of incest and homosexuality are often represented together in yaoi manga. It has been argued by many that this disproves the theory that homosexuality is somehow more accepted and tolerated in Japan, as its depiction is seen as on a par with the depiction of something as controversial as incest.
Choi Kang-hee is a South Korean actress and radio DJ. She launched her career by starring in two classic film and television series franchises, Whispering Corridors and School.
Le Grand Chef is a 2007 South Korean film starring Kim Kang-woo, Im Won-hee and Lee Ha-na. Produced by ShowEast and distributed by CJ Entertainment, it was released on November 1, 2007 with the length of 114 minutes.
Diary of King Yeonsan is a 1988 South Korean film directed by Im Kwon-taek. It was chosen as Best Film at the Grand Bell Awards.
Gourmet is a 2008 South Korean television series starring Kim Rae-won and Nam Sang-mi. It aired on SBS TV from June 18 to September 9, 2008 on Mondays and Tuesdays at 21:55 for 24 episodes.
Yoon Kye-sang is a South Korean actor and singer. He began his career in 1999 as part of the K-pop boy band g.o.d, then left the group in 2004 and pursued an acting career. He made his acting debut in the film Flying Boys (2004), for which he won Best New Actor at the Baeksang Arts Awards. Yoon became active in both television and film, with leading roles in romantic comedies such as My 19 Year Old Sister-in-Law (2004) and Who Are You? (2008) and the melodrama Crazy for You (2007), as well as more serious fare in The Moonlight of Seoul (2008) and The Executioner (2009). After a supporting turn in the hit series The Greatest Love (2011), he returned to the big screen in the well-received indie Poongsan (2011).
Road No. 1 is a 2010 South Korean television series, starring So Ji-sub, Kim Ha-neul and Yoon Kye-sang. The story revolves around two young soldiers, the woman they both love, and the Korean war that tears all their lives apart. The drama's title, Road No. 1, refers to the route connecting Seoul to Pyongyang, the soldiers' long and brutal road of sacrifice and survival. It aired on MBC from July 23 to August 26, 2010 on Wednesdays and Thursdays at 21:55 for 20 episodes.
Gyebaek is a 2011 South Korean period drama series, starring Lee Seo-jin, Cho Jae-hyun, Song Ji-hyo and Oh Yeon-soo. It aired on MBC from July 25 to November 22, 2011 on Mondays and Tuesdays at 21:55 for 36 episodes.
Go Joon-hee is a South Korean actress. She made her entertainment debut as a school uniform model in 2001, then launched an acting career in 2003.
Don't Look Back: The Legend of Orpheus is a 2013 South Korean television series, starring Kim Nam-gil and Son Ye-jin. It aired on KBS2 from May 27 to July 30, 2013 on Mondays and Tuesdays at 21:55.
Tazza is a 2008 South Korean television series starring Jang Hyuk, Han Ye-seul, Kim Min-jun, Kang Sung-yeon, Son Hyun-joo and Kim Kap-soo. It aired on SBS from September 16 to November 25, 2008 on Mondays and Tuesdays at 21:55 for 18 episodes.
Bel Ami is a 2013–2014 South Korean romantic comedy television series starring Jang Keun-suk, Lee Ji-eun, Lee Jang-woo, and Han Chae-young. Based on the same-titled 17-volume manhwa by Chon Kye-young, it aired on KBS2 from November 20, 2013, to January 9, 2014, on Wednesdays and Thursdays at 22:00 (KST) for 16 episodes.
Who Are You? is a 2008 South Korean television series starring Yoon Kye-sang, Go Ara and Kang Nam-gil. It aired on MBC TV from March 3 to May 1, 2008 on Wednesdays and Thursdays at 21:55 for 17 episodes.
Minority Opinion, released internationally as The Unfair, is a 2015 South Korean courtroom drama film written and directed by Kim Sung-je, starring Yoon Kye-sang, Yoo Hae-jin and Kim Ok-bin. It was adapted from Son A-ram's novel of the same name, which in turn was based on the "Yongsan tragedy," in which 40 tenants protesting against insufficient compensation for the urban renewal redevelopment of their Yongsan neighborhood clashed with riot police on January 20, 2009, that resulted in the death of five tenant-evictees and one police officer.
Love Alarm is a South Korean streaming television series starring Kim So-hyun, Jung Ga-ram, and Song Kang. Based on the Daum webtoon of the same name by Chon Kye-young, it follows the life of a high school girl in a society greatly influenced by a mobile app capable of notifying whether someone within their vicinity has romantic feelings for them.
Chon Kye-young is a South Korean manhwa author. One of Korea's most popular graphic novelists since her debut in 1996, her major works include Unplugged Boy (1997), Audition (1998), Girl in Heels (2007–2010) and Beautiful Man. Her recent series Love Alarm (2014–present), considered the biggest hit since her debut, is being adapted into a television series of the same name.
Kiss Sixth Sense is a South Korean web series based on the web novel of the same title which was made into a webtoon by Gatnyeo. Directed by Nam Ki-Hoon, written by Jeon Yu-ri and starring Yoon Kye-sang, Seo Ji-hye, and Kim Ji-seok. It tells the story of Hong Ye-sool, a woman who has the supernatural ability to see the future when she is kissed, accidentally kisses her boss, Cha Min-hoo, and sees their future together. Her life gets more entangled when Ye-sool's ex-boyfriend Lee Pil-yo comes back into her life. The series released two episodes every Wednesday at 16:00 (KST) from May 25, 2022, to June 29, 2022, exclusively on Disney+ in select regions.
