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BL: An insiders' guide to jargon, customs, and culture in series and movies [1]
['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.']
Date: 2025-06-03
Boys’ Love movies and series expose us to new cultures, peoples, and languages. The odds are you don’t speak Japanese, have never visited Thailand, and don’t know much about life in Korea so it might feel a bit intimidating or confusing when you begin to watch BLs.
Don’t panic. We will get you up to speed with many terms and customs so that you will soon feel like a seasoned BL watcher.
Some of the words and ideas we will learn about today are things you may occasionally encounter within a BL. That is, as part of the content of the story, a character may use a word or phrase or do some action that puzzles you.
You will come across many others outside of the BLs themselves, in reviews and comments about series and movies. Using these terms is a type of shorthand to communicate quickly and clearly about various aspects of a production; for example, in our culture if we say a band plays “heavy metal,” our listeners know it is music and also know exactly the type of sound without us laboriously describing it in technical musical terms.
Some BL terms are almost never translated in subtitles because they are too culturally complex to be replaced by a word or two. We will explain some of these things so that you will understand what is happening and what they mean within the context of the story.
If it’s all a bit overwhelming, relax. You don’t really need to know all this in order to enjoy watching BLs; it just provides some extra flavor and depth to the experience.
After reading this guide, you can make your friends marvel at your multicultural knowledge by pointing out the fujoshis to them and explaining what they are. Or you can sound like a BL expert when you leave a comment on Youtube like “When I first saw that tsundere, I knew he would end up being the seme if that ship ever sailed! 555!”
Our mission statement This regime wants to erase LGBQT people from public life and eliminate access to information, resources, and cultural heritage for our youth. Most LGBQT adolescents never see stories about people like themselves enjoying love and romance. In our current reality, watching a Boys’ Love or Girls’ Love series or movie might be the only means for young people to see models of how their own relationships could start, develop, and successfully grow. It’s also an act of subversion … so watch an episode, share it with others, and resist!
The Boys’ Love genre originated with people — primarily straight female authors and artists — in Japan’s world of manga and its tales are always focused on people, the characters of the story. So our beginning today should also start with people, Japanese people in particular, as they appear in BLs.
Japanese persons & Characters Bishonen Literally “beautiful boy” — a younger male who is slender and typically has androgynous features Tsundere A character who seems abrasive or aloof at first but eventually is shown to be warm and caring. Tsunderes often are guys who put on a cool or tough act to hide their romantic feelings for another character Nonke A male character who is straight at the start of the show but ends up in a romantic or sexual relationship with another guy. This is common in BLs but rare in real life; it’s entertainment fantasy, just like Hollywood movies where a not rich, not attractive, not smart schlub somehow ends up marrying the “hot chick” Seme A top sexually, that is, the dominant or penetrating partner. In Japanese BL mangas, there was (and still is) a strong fascination with sexual roles and the stories are very explicit. In the live-action series and movies we discuss in our blog, most are PG-rated and the characters’ sex lives aren’t examined in such detail generally. Nevertheless, many fans love to speculate about who does what when their favorite characters are in bed Uke The counterpart of a seme, that is, a bottom or submissive partner. Manga authors seem to never have heard of a power bottom Riba/Seke Someone who is sexually versatile. In real life, this is common, of course, but in mangas, the writers often confine their characters to rigid sexual behavior that strictly defines them as either a seme or uke [crickets] The authors of yaoi (BL mangas) are often much more obsessed with sexual roles than gay men are themselves so it’s a rare stretch for them to write their characters as being versatile. Thus, it’s no surprise that they appear to not even have a term for guys who prefer other sexual activities, such as oral sex. English-speaking gays have coined the term “side” for this, as in tops, bottoms, and sides Fujoshi Fujoshis (fangirls) squealing when they spot a couple of cute guys together Fangirls of male-male couples. They aren't as common in modern BLs but used to be seen a lot. In Japanese, the term is a type of word-play or pun whose literal translation is “rotten girl” A typical fujoshi scenario might have three girls “hiding” behind a skinny potted plant, tittering and watching as their favorite boy couple hold hands or have a heart-to-heart talk Fujoshis should not be thought of as girls who want to split up a male couple so that they can move in and snag one as a boyfriend. On the contrary, they really are fans who are thrilled when two guys they admire get together; they get vicarious happiness from the boys being in love with each other Fudanshi The male equivalent of fujoshis. They are fanboys of male couples; note that that is not the same as actual friends of the couple who support them and offer help and advice. Fudanshis and fujoshis “ship” two guys, sometimes with good reason and sometimes purely from their own imaginations (see below for what “to ship” means) Senpai In Japanese, a senior male or an upperclassman in university, especially if he’s mentoring or tutoring the other guy Kohai Also Japanese. The counterpart of senpai, a junior male or underclassman, especially if he’s being mentored by the senpai San Like mister, an address of respect in Japan. May be used with the name, as in Kuro-san
Note that although many of these terms entered into English via Japanese manga culture, we can use them when talking about BLs from any nation.
Of course, BLs aren’t about individuals per se …. they’re all about the relationships between individuals. Whether it’s romance, sex, enmity, or friendship, the series and movies we love focus on how the characters meet each other, build a friendship, struggle with an enemy, grow into love, or rekindle a spark that was lost.
So let’s take a look at relationships between characters, as well as between the actors who portray them.
Relationships Main couple Most BLs focus on a primary romantic couple so naturally we call them the “main couple” but also use other terms and abbreviations when discussing the story: MC, main leads, ML, and CP Side couple There are frequently one or more secondary couples, whose story gets told with somewhat less screen time. We call them a “side couple” or SC OTP Some fans get very, very, very (!!!) attached to certain onscreen couples — even writing long works of fanfiction about them. Their top favorite couple of all time, amen, is known as the One True Pairing. Some fans are a bit more flexible in their undying loyalty and have several OTPs Ships Imagined or real pairings of characters — whether OTPs or any romantic couples — are called “ships” in popular jargon, as in “relationship.” So fans might talk about characters Tom and Frank being a ship. With the obsession in some parts of the BL world about sexual roles, ships are named with the hoped for top as the first billed, such as “TomFrank” indicating that Tom is the fantasized top Ships can also be fan-built around the actors playing the characters. In most instances, it’s pure fantasy on the part of the fans … but actors and studios often encourage ships to build buzz and fan loyalty. The actors often perform “fanservice” — actions like flirting with each other, holding hands, kisses on the cheek, and deep gazes — during conventions or other public events, to the screams and sighs of adoring fans Ships and fanservice are much more prevalent with Thai BLs than those of other nations. A popular ship can be very beneficial for the actors and their studio, generating a lot of buzz about upcoming projects and guaranteeing huge audiences. Actors also profit by being paid to attend conventions, grand openings, and other events as a ship as well as making commercials and product endorsements (acting is financially challenging for most actors because it is not steady work). Sailed ship Li Zhen Hao and Shen Jyun, who portray the main couple in the series About Youth, became a couple in real life … or as we say, their ship sailed Occasionally, BL actors really do fall in love with each other and begin a genuine romance. Because fanservice can be so convincing (they’re actors!), it’s best to wait for some fairly solid evidence before declaring that a pair is a ship in real life; if they announce that they’re engaged to be married, that’s pretty certain. In such cases, we say their ship has sailed A professional ship of two actors, as characters, can also sail. If a new project is announced that will pair the same actors — either in a sequel or in a screenplay as new characters — fans will say their (professional) ship has sailed Ship in harbor An unrealized or unconfirmed or doubtful ship, professional or personal. Perhaps the two actors were rumored to be a couple in real life but seem to have little or no contact on their social media posts. A rumored character shipping could arise about purported plans for a new sequel — but if time passes and there’s no official announcement of it then we say that ship is stuck in harbor Sunken ship When a ship — characters or actors — falls apart, we say that their ship sank. Professionally, it could be because one actor left to work at a different studio or they just wanted to spread their wings and try different roles with other partners. Personally, a ship of actors is like any other romance — things do not always continue happily ever after, alas Ghost ship This is an impossible ship, a phantom that can never exist. It is when fans imagine their perfect ship, or OTP, to be two characters from different series and studios. For example, what if people paired Luke Skywalker with Captain Kirk? They are in different fantasy universes and will never cross paths, much less become a couple. Yet hardcore fans can still write fanfiction about the idea Skinship This just means a relationship — usually friendship — that involves a lot of touching and contact. Some actors are naturally physically demonstrative and comfortable with hugging, touching, and the like, but others make an effort at it for fanservice. Generally, fans love seeing lots of skinship between their favorite actors in real life as well as between their characters within a movie or series
Following are various terms that you are likely to stumble across if you watch BLs, read comments on streaming platforms, or peruse reviews.
Odd & Ends 555 You may see this in Thai BLs when someone is reading a message on their phone. It means the same as our “LOL” or “Hahaha” because the Thai number 5 is pronounced as “ha.” Daebak It means “awesome” or “cool” or “amazing” in Korean Shiaa In Thai BLs, it’s usually translated as “Shit!” or “Damn!”, en expression of surprise or dismay To eat someone This is a flirty, suggestive phrase implying to have sex with someone. It became part of Thai slang because the words for sex and eat are pronounced very similarly. So it’s a tongue-in-cheek way of talking about sexual relations without actually saying it explicitly BL baiting This is a pejorative term for some movies and series that are marketed as being BLs but really aren’t. Most often they are “bromances,” where two male characters have a strong and close friendship but it never develops into a romance or sexual attraction. Mainland China is notorious for this because of its censorship of explicitly gay content; one can read between the lines or use imagination to extend the story of a Chinese drama, but what is shown is usually a bromance, not the BL that viewers were led to expect. Taiwan, on the other hand, produces real BLs (and they are usually excellent). Blue shorts Blue shorts boys in the series Love Sick This is code or shorthand for a BL that is set, partially or in full, in high school. In Thailand, secondary students wear uniforms and they often include short pants because it is a tropical country. In the very first BL series, Love Sick, the guys wore blue shorts as part of their uniform. So now all high school-themed BLs are referred to as “blue shorts stories” even if the students in the production wear long trousers or shorts of a different color. The term is also used for high school stories that are set in other countries Fighting! This is a term of encouragement in Thailand. You can think of it as saying something like “Good luck!” or “You can do it!” or “Don’t give up!” Y-series Derived from the first letter of yaoi (the original Japanese form of boys’ love romances as manga). It’s used frequently in much of Asia — as well as the term “BL” — to label Boys’ Love content
If you missed it, read my previous story about proper names, forms of address, and customs in Thailand and South Korea. It will help you make sense of some of the cultural norms in BL series and movies from those two countries (they are the top producers of BL content).
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