Shōnen-ai

is a term that is applied to anime or manga that deals with love between young men, especially of the variety. The genre itself dealt with romanticized but non-sexual relationships between men. The predecessor of shōnen-ai was . Shōnen-ai is less sexually explicit than yaoi, sometimes not at all. Shōnen-ai is very popular in Japan, especially among teenage girls. It has also found a strong audience in America and Europe, especially among 18–24 year old heterosexual women and homosexual men. The term shōnen-ai is no longer used in Japan with regard to manga and anime; the wasei-eigo construction has largely replaced it due to associations of the original term with pederasty (which were not associated into English usage). Ironically, the similar English term "boylove" has the exact meaning Boys Love was coined to avoid. Shounen-ai began as a shoujo sub-genre in the early 1970s, and early shonen-ai, such as Kaze to Ki no Uta, took place in far off locations. The majority of...