Ok, so during the anime convention i went to the manga corner, where they were selling manga. conviently there was a section for Yaoi. I've been readin yaoi online and i saw some titles that I'm familar with.

and I swear i felt people's eye on my back.

There is something horrably embarrsing and guilty about buying Yaoi in the bookstore than buying normal manga. I feel like I'm sneaking porn from my parents or something. It's as if "if you go to that section, then you're a perv" sign is placed right underneth it. Yaoi was meant only to be sneatly bought over online or by reading scanlations.

And since buying Yaoi will leave the actual manga in my room as evidence (and we must take good care to hide that from outsiders) it increases the tension eve more.

do others feel the same way?

Don't blame others. Blame those crappy yaoi plots that give this genre a bad name.

You know something is wrong with this genre otherwise you won't have the guilty feeling at all no matter what others say.

Did they have a hentai section BTW? How did people look at those who browsed there? Let's not forget that those adult-rated yuri type is included there. Or did they have yuri at all? What about ecchi/harem manga? I believe those genres are more well-known in the manga community than yaoi. I wonder how people think of them?

Last edited by base_coat at 2:23 am, Jun 23 2010

don´t worry. i´m pretty sure most of them bought some, too. And if it´s about a normal bookstore 89% of all employes in bookstores don´t know what yaoi is and can´t even imagine that something like this exists

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currently reading: Nyotai-ka
please support me

I've never bought yaoi because my parents would flip if they found out, but I've bought shounen-ai titles before. The salesgirl was more amused than anything, so that wasn't so bad ^^;; And its an anime convention you went to so I don't get why buying yaoi should come as a surprise to others The anime convention I went to last time had yaoi fangirls proudly declaring their fujoshi status on their t-shirts, lol.

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looking for this yaoi title; any help is appreciated!

Be happy you can walk into bookstore and buy BL, some people can't do it even if they want to

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I really don't mind shopping in public for BL. I got used to it because there are two local anime stores and one has an amazing selection of yaoi. Admittedly, it is a bit awkward to walk into an anime shop with family and friends who don't understand the genra- but a good number of the people I head out with enjoy it as well, so it is fun. I have also made friends with the workers because they adore chatting about the new titles that come in. This happens a lot at cons as well! I’ll even help them sell a few titles and listen to customer recomendations. It kinda breaks the ice if people want to get a yaoi shot of the character I'm cosplaying. <--These are the strangers you should pay attention too, and not the ones who will judge you.

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THE SOUND OF THE OCEAN IS DEAD
IT'S JUST THE ECHO OF THE BLOOD IN YOUR HEAD

There aren't much shops around here that sell manga, let alone yaoi. I've once had a shounen-ai title in my hands but decided against it, mostly because I was too embarrassed. The problem is, in these really small shops all manga are handpicked, which means that the shop owner knows exactly what you're buying. I maybe wouldn't mind if it was a large shop with uninterested personnel who probably don't even know what manga is.
Until our supermarkets will sell manga (like in France... ) I'll stick to internet

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~~Here is yet to come a witty comment on love~~

Consider this; if they know what it is and picked it out themselves, this is a good thing. The intentions of ordering titles is because they trust it will sell (they want profit) or else they would have never brought it in the first place. Chances are if they know what it is, they read it themselves or are open to the idea. Think about how much hentai they must sell in a day? I'm sure they are desensitised to it, even if it did bother them. It is like selling condoms at a drug store- the clerks see it so often that they just don't care anymore.

Plus it can be amusing over embarrassing even when they do question you. Just be like "don't judge me- yaoi is awesome!" and make it into a joke. One guy was teasing me about it once, but we ended up laughing by the end of the transaction. In a way, I still got approval. ...But then again not all people are as outgoing as myself so I can see how this can be difficult for some.

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THE SOUND OF THE OCEAN IS DEAD
IT'S JUST THE ECHO OF THE BLOOD IN YOUR HEAD

yeah, i feel guilty whenever i read yaoi at the library. i can practically feel the stares boring into the back of my head. i'm always afraid i'm going to be lynched as soon as i step out.

I don't read yaoi myself, but my friend does.

I was thinking about buying her some for a present, but I just didn't have the guts to go and pay for it. No way. Even if I said it was for a friend I could imagine that they wouldn't believe me

If she wants them she can go buy them herself XD

i suppose this is now a non-blackmarket manga becomes a blackmarket manga.

will yaoi earn lot of profit by being lisenced and being availbale on the shelf? because i can just imagine that all purchases will be made online.

i want them to have a cover without a picture where guys hug or kiss each other.they should make it like Sakura Gari. My boyfriend accidently saw me buying one with a cover like that. And the guy from the stuff didn´t stop laughing after he saw the cover. I can´t go to this store for a while (it was a normal bookstore)

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currently reading: Nyotai-ka
please support me

I've never felt any shame in it. I flip through yaoi manga and artbooks in bookstores sometimes and I never feel any tension.
I've even bought yaoi in the store (though I pretty much always buy them online now just because you get a better deal) and the people at the register never give odd looks or anything. They just treat it like any other book.
Like people have said in this thread, probably a lot of the employees at regular book stores don't even know what yaoi is or that it exists.

I have never been to a con before but I assume since they know what it is, 'that' section is equivalent to the XXX section of a video store.
People just have that tendency to stare when people are in that section. I'll admit that I've done that a few times but I'm not thinking "What a perverted piece of scum" or anything. It's just mindless staring and curiosity. Nothing against the person.

Besides, most yaoi has very light covers so it's not a dead giveaway that it's porn. Nothing as explicit as hentai covers for sure.

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Beavis: "Wait, what's pornography?"
Butt-head: "Uhh.. I think that's like, the study of porn."

rofl i looked at in the bookstore yesterday XD

(its quite far from my house so cant go daily QQ)

i even argue with the owner if there is a really soft shounen ai in there that i dont even see as an shounen ai rofl

and that it shouldnt be in the yaoi section

i dont have any shame in it at all

Im proud to be an otaku

ps i ussually even buy the most kinky one