Does anyone actually know what the difference is? From what I know, 'shoujo' means girl while 'ai' means love, so 'shoujo-ai' together is girls' love. 'Yuri' means lily in Japanese, and the lily flower in Japan represents lesbianism. But in what instance would something be considered shoujo-ai and not yuri and vice-versa? And similarly, in what instance would something be considered both shoujo-ai and yuri (if possible)? I heard that shoujo-ai is the pure form where the story is about the love story between girls, whereas yuri is hentai between girls. Yet, there are people who argue it wasn't that simple. So what is it then?

I also heard that real life lesbians don't do scissoring/tribadism, but we see it all the time in yuri hentai (is this some sort of male fantasy or something?). So that would make yuri hentai mostly (if not exclusively) targeted towards males?

Shoujo Ai is not a thing.

Yuri doesn't mean hentai, in japan most of our YURI (lesbian romance) manga are published in YURI magazine. Apparently they don't even use the word Shoujo Ai, that is a completely western invention.
Generally westerner use it for light/very light (if not only subtext) yuri

last edited at May 8, 2015 2:16PM

Don't quote me on that but I was under the impression that both shoujo-ai and shonen-ai means loli/shotas ( boys and girls mean young ). This distinction between the graphic and non-graphic is purely western fanbase, probably cause murica' is sex averse. Again if I'm wrong bout the first part someone can correct me.

We only use the tag Yuri here.

I'm not a lesbian so I can't speak for them but certain positions can be uncomfortable for people, that goes for straight people as well and I'm not surprised that some lesbian do not do it.

A lot of yuri hentai is targeted towards males, especially mangas that are published in actual H-manga magazines.

last edited at May 8, 2015 1:59PM

I also heard that real life lesbians don't do scissoring/tribadism, but we see it all the time in yuri hentai (is this some sort of male fantasy or something?). So that would make yuri hentai mostly (if not exclusively) targeted towards males?

A lot of lesbians don't scissor, but a lot do as well. The same way a lot of gay men don't like anal sex, or a lot of people regardless of orientation don't like toys while others do.. Every position isn't for everyone, simply put.

As to porn, since it's a very visual medium it follows that the most visual positions will be given priority.

As to porn, since it's a very visual medium it follows that the most visual positions will be given priority.

Wow, I had never thought of it that way.
Porn has big visual positions and Michael Bay has big visual explosions. It all makes sense!

As to porn, since it's a very visual medium it follows that the most visual positions will be given priority.

Wow, I had never thought of it that way.
Porn has big visual positions and Michael Bay has big visual explosions. It all makes sense!

Het and gay male porn have some pretty big visual explosions too, just sayin'.

Het and gay male porn have some pretty big visual explosions too, just sayin'.

Please Nez... You've just made me do a big visual explosion, big spill of water coming right from my mouth unto my bed. It's all your fault!

Japanese meaning of Shojo Ai would be Yuri + Loli.
I'd rather not use this term at all, only creates confusion.

It's interesting to note, as someone who likes lesbian romance novels (which, as with het romance novels, contain sex scenes as a matter of course), I haven't really run into any that have the couple scissoring. It's all mouth and hands, same as in yuri, although some of the more porny ones have stuff like strap-ons.

Het and gay male porn have some pretty big visual explosions too, just sayin'.

Please Nez... You've just made me do a big visual explosion, big spill of water coming right from my mouth unto my bed. It's all your fault!

My work is done here.

• returns to her home planet *

I hold the same view as most others have said. Shoujo ai, a meaningless western invention to more narrowly, and incorrectly, define yuri. If something is porn, you tag it as porn, you don't tag as yuri then expect porn. What annoys me the most is when someone says a series is NOT yuri, but rather shoujo ai as if they are mutually exclusive. If it's "shoujo ai" then it is yuri.

Shoujo Ai is not a thing, it's a term created and used by westerners. A manga about girls loving girls whether it involves sexual activity or not, is YURI. Hentai or eroi manga is what we know as porn, so yuri is not hentai and hentai is just hentai.

For the scissoring thing, some do and some don't. It works for some and does not for others. I once asked about scissoring to a person I know and the answer I got was that it's not worth doing because it takes too much energy and time. So, yeah scissoring does exist in real life.

Shoujo Ai is not a thing, it's a term created and used by westerners.

From what I've heard it actually isn't a western term but western use of it is almost as far from the original term as you can get. My understanding of the term is that it specifically refers to yuri involving lolis.

I thought we were already out of the dark ages of shoujo ai! :(

Nobody in Japan uses that word. It's made up by westerners. I've never ever heard the use of that word not even in Chinese.

last edited at May 8, 2015 5:42PM

Shoujo Ai is not a thing, it's a term created and used by westerners.

From what I've heard it actually isn't a western term but western use of it is almost as far from the original term as you can get. My understanding of the term is that it specifically refers to yuri involving lolis.

I read it here, that it was a term created by Americans to be specific, accurate or not, I don't know. http://www.yuricon.com/what-is-yuricon/#whatisyuri

last edited at May 8, 2015 5:48PM

From my understanding Shoujo-ai/Shounen-ai never had anything to do with Loli/Shota.

Maybe I'll say something stupid but this is how I always understood it:

• Shoujo = any non-adult human female, don't matter if it's a child or adolescent, as long they're not adult you can call them Shoujo
• Shounen = any non-adult human male, don't matter if it's a child or adolescent, as long they're not adult you can call them Shounen
• Ai = Love
• Shoujo-Ai = Girls Love
• Shounen-Ai = Boys Love
• Girls Love = Yuri
• Boys Love = Yaoi
• Shoujo-Ai = Girls Love = Yuri
• Shounen-Ai = Boys Love = Yaoi

Nobody in Japan uses that word. It's made up by westerners. I've never ever heard the use of that word not even in Chinese.

From what I have seen it's not that they don't use Shoujo-Ai/Shounen-Ai, but that they mostly use Girls Love/Boys Love and Yuri/Yaoi.

But for some reason a lot of westerners understood things like this:

• Shoujo-Ai/Shounen-Ai = pure stories without sex, normally with young characters, and most of them stay in subtext.
• Yuri/Yaoi = more serious stories, normally with adults or young adults, that may have sex, or it's just porn.

last edited at May 8, 2015 5:51PM

I thought we were already out of the dark ages of shoujo ai! :(

Nobody in Japan uses that word. It's made up by westerners. I've never ever heard the use of that word not even in Chinese.

MC Kouhai droppin' them knowledge bombs.

when lolicon say they love girls they would say shoujo ai.

when lolicon say they love girls they would say shoujo ai.

When you say "lolicon" aren't you already talking about girls?

last edited at May 8, 2015 6:26PM

no girls = loli not lolicon=pedo

last edited at May 8, 2015 6:30PM

no girls = loli not lolicon=pedo

Oh boy

I see, it all makes sense now. Thanks for clearing that up for me everyone. I would never have thought that the term shoujo-ai isn't actually a term and that it was originated in the west.

no girls = loli not lolicon=pedo

Lolicon is liking little girls.

Shotacon is liking little boys.

Both are what you'd call pedo in the west.

Shoujo ai is not a Japanese term for either in the first place.

no girls = loli not lolicon=pedo

Lolicon is liking little girls.

Shotacon is liking little boys.

Both are what you'd call pedo in the west.

Shoujo ai is not a Japanese term for either in the first place.

In case someone still don't get it:

• Shoujo = means young/little/few and woman respectively. In Japanese, these kanji refer specifically to a young woman approximately 7-18 years old, Shoujo can often be translated with the English word girl.

• Lolicon = portmanteau of the phrase "Lolita complex".

• Lolita = was the nickname of one of the principal characters in Vladimir Nabokov's novel Lolita. Lolita's actual name was Dolores, with whom the narrator, Humbert Humbert, develops a sexual obsession. In the book itself, "Lolita" is specifically Humbert's nickname for Dolores. Nevertheless, "Lolita" and "loli" has come to be used as a general reference to a seductive or sexually attractive young woman.

So just because someone say they like Shoujo doesn't mean that they like children, just that they like younger girls, it depends on the context.

And is Shoujo-Ai/Shounen-ai japanese terms or not? some say it is, some say it's made by westerners, I don't know anymore what to think about it.

And like before, maybe I said something stupid, so if I'm wrong someone please correct me.

last edited at May 8, 2015 6:53PM