The classification for 攻め[seme] and 受け[uke]

August 3, 2007 at 2:35 pm (BL, doujin(同人), otaku word)

 If you happen to be a BL[Boys’ Love] fan, you would know what 攻め[seme] and 受け[uke] mean.  Since I have a 腐女子[fujoshi “BL fangirl”] friend, I have learned some classification for 攻め and 受け from her. There’s too much to memorize! At any rate, I hereby introduce those I can think of.

 Before I begin with that, I shall explain the meaning of 攻め and 受け briefly in case you are not sure of it. In any BL stories, two guys happen to love each other…in such a male-male pair, each has to function when they make love. One functions as male is 攻め, and the other functions as female is 受け though they two are boys.  

 Okay, so let’s start with the classification for 攻め first. 

1. へたれ攻め[hetare-zeme]; へたれ[hetare] means a person who is so reluctant or hopeless. Or else, it simply means sucks. Normally, 攻め should be stronger than 受け, however, if the 攻め boy is less aggressive or positive than 受け, he would be へたれ攻め.  Even though he functions as 攻め, he seems to be under the 受け’s control…he would be also entitled to be へたれ攻め.  Mostly, if he is such へたれ攻め, the other would be either 誘い受け[sasoi-uke] or 襲い受け[osoi-uke](I’ll mention these later). I can think of Shinji[Evangelion] could be へたれ攻め if he takes 攻め’s place though someone like him would be definitely 受け.

2. 鬼畜攻め[kichiku-zeme]; 鬼畜[kichiku] means barbarity or a person who is cold-blooded. So if he is extremely so cold-blooded, and does brutal things to 受け, he would be 鬼畜攻め, or simply 鬼畜. I think the protagonist in the BL anime, お金がないっ！[No money!] must be 鬼畜攻め. Also, if you have played the BL game, 俺の下であがけ[ore no shita de agake “Struggle under me,” you would be sure of 鬼畜. 

3. ワンコ攻め[wanko-zeme]; Sounds cute, doesn’t it? Well, ワンコ[wanko] means a dog here(but it’s not correct) It derives from the fact that they howl ワンワン[wan wan “bow wow”]. At any rate, dogs are so obedient to their masters but they also fawn upon. Yes, no matter how cold 受け is, how many times 受け refuses to accept him, he never gives up, and eventually it comes to pass. It sounds like a relationship between 先輩受け[sempai-uke] and 後輩攻め[kouhai-zeme]. 先輩 means a senior at a company or school, and 後輩 means a junior as well. 先輩 is more superior to 後輩.  In such a relationship, 後輩 becomes 攻め…the position is switched, isn’t it?

4. 総攻め[sou-zeme]; This term is used in doujin-circles mostly. In a certain manga, anime, or whatsover, whoever he dates, he ends up being 攻め. Such a boy should be 総攻め.  総[sou] means overall, general, and synthetic. For example, I think Tedsuka buchou in Prince of Tennis must be 総攻め. And of course, there’s other way around, 総受け[sou-uke]. I think Kira Yamato in Gundam Seed must be.

5. 下剋上攻め[gekokujou-zeme]; 下剋上[gekokujou] means that a person whose position is lower than the other, surpasses the other.  So, at first he is such a wimpy 受け…but with so much going on, he could surpass 攻め so badly. Eventually he can take over 攻め’s place.       

6. やんちゃ攻め[yancha-zeme]; やんちゃmeans merry, but sometimes it also means naughty or mischievous. Well, I think if he is such a merry boy, and extremely childish, he would be やんちゃ攻め. Having said that, I have never heard of やんちゃ受け, though…

 So, below is all about 受け.

 1. 誘い受け[sasoi-uke]; Normally, 攻め should have the initiative, shouldn’t he? But in this case, 受け does have it. 誘い[sasoi] means temptation. See what I mean? In this case, he must be stronger than 攻め so that he can control the other. So that’s why this pair could be possibly 誘い受け and へたれ攻め.

 2. 襲い受け[osoi-uke]; If 受け is far stronger than 攻め, and he could even rape him. He should be 襲い受け. 襲い[osoi] means rape, and verb form is 襲う[osou]. But, he must function as 受け when they “do it” because he is 受け.

 3. オレ様受け[ore-sama-uke]; オレ[ore] is a kind of the first person. And it’s the most casual. But why -sama? Sama is the most polite honorific than anything else. So オレ様 sounds quite arrogant and narcissistic because he addresses himself with -sama. So, if such a narcissist is 受け, he should be オレ様受け. Speaking of オレ様, I can definitely think of Keigo Atobe in Prince of Tennis. He says オレ様 when he uses the first person, doesn’t he?

 4. オヤジ受け[oyaji-uke]; オヤジ(in kanji, it is 親父)  means a father, and it’s casual. But when it doesn’t mean a father, it would mean a middle-aged man. It’s a slang, sort of. Anyway, if a middle-aged man is 受け, he should be オヤジ受け. I think オヤジ受け can be seen in リーマンもの[riiman-mono(I will mention it later)] series mostly.  

 Precisely, there are some genres in BL works, so I shall explain it as far as I know.

 1. リーマンもの[riiman-mono]; If a story takes place in a office settings, or the two guys are salarymen, it should be classified as リーマンもの. リーマン means a salaryman, and it’s a slang. もの[mono] means a thing, stuff…a kind of thing. As mentioned before, オヤジ受け could be seen especially in リーマンもの because a boss might be a middle-aged man.

 2. 学園もの[gakuen-mono]; It’s easy to guess. If a story takes place at school, it should be classified as 学園もの. Well, 学園ヘブン[gakuen heaven], 桜蘭高校ホスト部[Ouran High-School Host Club], and 金色のコルダ[Kin-iro no Corda] are this kind of thing.   

 3. ナマモノ[namamono]; It means raw stuff literally. But in BL circles, it does mean a BL thing(mostly fan-made manga) that real people are used. Mostly, actors, pop singers, sport players, or even seiyus.

 4. イロモノ[iromono]; This is very rare. It means a BL thing by a pair of minor characters. If not very popular characters are used in such a fan-made manga, it should be classified イロモノ. Or else, イロモノ means a fan who has a minor taste away from the majority.

 5. 兄弟もの[kyoudai-mono]; Easy to guess what. 兄弟[kyoudai] means brothers, so in this genre, a pair should be two brothers. Yes, in other words, we Japanese say 近親相姦[kinshinsoukan”incest”]. Mostly a story takes place between two half-brothers(sometimes real brothers!), and a younger one could be 受け and such a ロリショタ. Speaking of 兄弟もの, I can think of Night Head.

 That’s all I can think of right now. If you know anything else, tell me please.