Prolific yaoi publisher Digital Manga Publishing, in a press release distributed last night, announced their special guest for this year's Yaoi-Con, yaoi mangaka Hinako Takanaga. Takanaga is the author of popular DMP series such as Little Butterfly, The Devil's Secret, Challengers, Croquis, Love Round!!, Liberty Liberty, and the soon to be released The Tyrant Falls In Love. This will be her second appearance at the San Francisco-area convention.
For the uninitiated, yaoi (also frequently referred to as "boys' love") is a genre of manga written primarily by women, for women, focusing on romantic and/or sexual relationships between male characters.
Despite its origins (derived from "Yama nashi, ochi nashi, imi nashi" or "No climax, no point, no meaning") the term "yaoi" is commonly used by western fans to describe any manga with a male/male romantic focus, ranging from sweet, chaste romance to more explicit fare, regardless of the series' length or literary ambition. Though homoeroticism is common in manga of nearly every genre and demographic categorization, "yaoi" is most often used as a label specific to the romance genre.
Since yaoi as a genre encompasses a significant amount of work rated by publishers as appropriate for readers aged 18 or older, attendance at Yaoi-Con is restricted to that age group. For more information, visit the convention's website.
Age-appropriate readers may find a large selection of yaoi at Boston-area comic shop, Comicopia.
For a local critic's take on mangaka Hinako Takanaga, check out Katherine Dacey's review of Little Butterfly at The Manga Critic.
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