DNAngel and the True Meaning of "Shounen-ai"
So I got hooked on DNAngel fanart and decided to go check out what the series was all about. To be frank, it confused the heck out of me. The series is all about a boy who is in love with a girl who thinks he's just a friend. Then he turns fourteen and discovers there's another person written into his DNA. The girl he likes likes his alter ego, and then he decides he likes her twin... it's a convoluted mess of girl/guy one way and then two way attractions and with the goal of discovering which one the main character will end up with and if she can accept both of him... and yet in Japan the series was marketed as Shounen Ai. My first thought was "what the heck" - how can guys liking girls and girls liking guys be a series about boys liking boys? I read about twenty summaries and reviews trying to figure out if I missed something (I don't do yaoi, so I wanted to make sure the series was safe to watch) and I discovered that it truly has nothing to do with boys in love with boys. So how did it get marketed as Shounen Ai? How is it the #1 Shounen Ai series of 2003? That's when I decided to do some research into the meaning of Shounen Ai. To do that I hit up the wonderful Wikipedia, which informed me that the Japanese term Shounen Ai, which literally means boys love, was not originally intended to refer to homosexuality at all. Apparently it originally referred to anything that centered around any kind of relationship between two males - usually a platonic relationship. That means a father/son relationship, a brother/brother relationship, a mentor/student relationship, or even a plain old friend/friend relationship (and not in any sick, perverted way). In fact the term was created to differentiate the genre from homosexually themed shows - it was created to mean "revolving around not-gay relationships between males". So DNAngel is a Shounen Ai story because it revolves around the "relationship" (read, interaction) between the main character and his alter ego. Or, essentially, the two of them becoming friends and learning to trust one another.
A note of caution though, while series marketed, promoted, or otherwise labeled as Shounen Ai in the original Japanese are probably safe, anything given that label by the English viewing audience probably isn't. Sadly, in America and other non-Japanese countries, and especially in fandom, Shounen Ai is generally used as an equivalent to yaoi or homosexuality. Well, there went the whole point of the phrase, huh?
Oh... and I haven't finished watching it yet, but so far DNAngel is relatively safe and not gay! I have read that you can find somewhat homosexual overtones, but only if you're looking for them (ie. "oooo! He attacked him and he was in his face too long. He must secretly have a crush on him!" ... and various other yaoi fangirls desperate graspings at straws. Yes, fangirls, I hate to break it to you, but just like every girl who talks to/looks at a guy isn't in love with him, not every guy who talks to another guy is in love with him. They can even *gasp* have physical contact without being secretly in love. I know, it's difficult to fathom. But, seriously, grow up and get a clue. You can find enough trash out there without making it up and ruining perfectly good fandoms for the rest of us. If you want that stuff go watch Gravitation... (You know you've seen it 83 times.)
As for the rest of you, my hopefully rated G following... please don't watch Gravitation. They can spout "open mindedness" and "maturity" all they want, but immoral is immoral. Don't dirty your brain like that, not even in fiction.
And if any yaoi fans are offended, please don't be. I'm not trying to tell you how to live your life, but I'm not going to keep quiet about what I think is right and wrong. You say "don't like, don't read", the same goes to you. If you don't like what I have to say, ignore it. But don't knock the rest of my site just because we disagree on one point. It's petty and childish.