To ease the confusion over these terms and the genre, we will define Boys Love and yaoi along with shounen ai. What's the deal with yaoi? Shounen’ai? Aren’t they all the same? Ever watch a show with two (or even more) male characters acting a little too buddy-buddy with each other? Wonder what the heck was going on? Better yet, have you ever seen suggestive fan art of two male characters from a squeaky-clean sports anime? You may have just seen what would fall under the Boys Love label, a genre of fiction depicting romantic relationships between two men directed at a presumed female audience.Įven for those who know Boys Love, the meaning of the term is confusing when considering other names associated with it, most notably yaoi and shounen ai.